Between Heaven and Hell
by P.D-chan
Summary: Love and hate are so close.A DracoHarry Story.Chapters rewritten.I'm back
1. Chapter 1

Story Name: Between Heaven and Hell

Author : P.D-chan

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the other Characters don't belong to me.

Author's Note: So, I will overlook and maybe rewrite all the chapters and then there will come finally new ones :)

Chapter 1

The pain was burning in him like a flame. A flame from deep within him, that tried to burn him alive. A flame from around him that tried to eat the flesh from his bones, layer for layer. And he was forced to feel every minute. To experience every second, every minute. The agony was dragging him down into the darkness of his own mind and he wished that he would fall into oblivion soon, so that he could flee from this pain. But it refused him to faint away. It refused him to flee. It forced him to feel.  
And it forced him to hear. Hear his own cries of torment, hear them piercing through the silence around him.

Though he was the only one to hear them.

He was alone now. Nobody was there any longer. Nobody was there to hear his cries except himself. He had wanted it like that. Nobody should see him like this.  
But soon he would not be alone anymore.

They had thought they could flee from him, avoiding his vengeance. But their were wrong.

Soon..everybody would pay for what they had done to him.

All... Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, wished for was a quiet year. Just one year where there was nobody who wanted to kill him, where nobody wanted his death. Just one year where he could relax and where he could only think of himself for once. One year without fear. Just one year that he could enjoy like a normal

child.  
Was this little wish really so odd? Many people cursed their boring lives. He wished he would be bored for once.

With a sigh from deep within him Harry leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window of his Compartment. His wish would never be fulfilled. It seemed that a quiet year was not meant for him. What could possible happen this year?

As the Hogwarts Express reached a curve, Harry's head bounced slightly against the glass. He winced, but didn't move his head away.

The glass was cold. It felt good against his scar. He sighed again, a sigh from deep within him. He didn't hold it back. There wasn't anyone who could hear.

His scar. Since Voldemort's return it hadn't stop hurting. All his holiday long there had been a light constant pain in it, the whole day and the whole night. Like a knife that cut it's way slowly into his head. And there was nothing he could do about it. He hadn't found anything to erase the pain and he really had tried everything he could think about-except magic. But just, because it was forbidden to use magic in the school holidays. Otherwise he would have tried the anti-pain-spell that he had seen in one of his books.  
But because he couldn't he had swallowed some of his Aunt Petunia's strong pill's against headaches that he had taken secretly from the bath, but nothing had succeeded in erasing the pain.

Now his only hope lied in Hogwarts and in Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey. Surely they would find a way to help Harry.  
When not, when not even magic cold help him, then the only way to erase the pain would be Voldemort's death.

Harry raised a hand. Slowly he let his finger glide over the scar, over the evident proof of his survival. When he thought that there had been a time where he had loved it, because it had made him special. But since he knew the origin of it... his liking had slowly turned into despise.  
That the day when he had become it was the day his parents had died, when they had tried to protect him. He not only despites it, he hated it.

With another sigh Harry let his hand fell back in his lap. It wasn't good to dwell on the past. That had he learned in his first year, where the magical mirror had shown him his greatest wish that what he yearned for: his dead parents. But sometimes it felt good.

"Great, just great" Harry mumbled silently to himself. He lost himself too much in his thoughts when he was alone.

A quiet rustle was the only answer he got. With a smile he turned his head to the only one who shared this train with him

"Well, Hedwig, what do you say to the great honour that we have the whole train alone for us. Just for us the Hogwarts Express takes the whole distance before September the 1st"

The white Owl blinked and threw a reproachful look to him, because of the sarcasm in his voice, before she closed her eyes again. Harry winced. Hedwig wasn't really glad to be in her cage and she was showing him exactly in what a bad mood she was. Not a very pleasant company to be with. But the only one he got.  
He sighed again and leaned back into his seat. This journey was not quite so entertaining and fun when he was alone, when there was nobody to speak with, when there was no Ron and no Hermione. Not even the women with the sweets seemed to be there. He lay a hand onto his belly-and he was hungry.

God, he would even prefer to speak with his nemesis Draco Malfoy. Then he mustn't talk to himself. That he was already doing when he was with the Dursleys.

Suddenly with a loud rattle the door opened, startling Harry. Quickly he turned around, cursing himself that his wand was in his trunk...and found himself gazing into the wide smirk of nobody else than Draco Malfoy, standing in the doorframe.

When speaking from the devil...

"All alone, Potter?" With an elegant movement Malfoy stepped into the compartment, holding Harry's gaze with his silver-grey eyes.

Harry sneered. It seemed just his bad wishes would be fulfilled. Just wonderful. "What do you want, Malfoy? Are you even supposed to be here?"

The blond Slytherin smirk widened, so that it was nearly a real smile. "Friendly as ever. And yes I'm allowed here. Did you really think that the whole Hogwarts Express does this journey just for one person, even if it's you, the great and mighty Harry Potter!"

Harry groaned inwardly, watching how Malfoy's gaze went over his property, from his big trunk on one of the seats to Hedwig in her cage.

It was just his luck, that of all possibilities, it was his nemesis Draco Malfoy, who was with him in this damn train.

But why?

Hadn't Dumbledore written in his Owl post that he would be the only one?

Maybe he had lied, because he knew how much he hated the Slytherin.

Just great. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin alone in one train.

\\Will anybody of us reach the school whole and in one piece?\\ Harry thought.

"And why do you want to come earlier to school? Do you want to spy for your father or are you just bored?"

"Neither of the two. I just wanted to hear such sweet words from you again." Draco snickered and let himself fall back into the seat beside Harry. "But I'm hurt, Potter. I would have thought that you would appreciate my presence. I'm a far better company than that owl of you. And I've wanted to give you a chance to apologize."

Harry blinked. Apologize? Why should he...oh.that.

Slowly he let his eyes glide over Draco's body, which was already in his school uniform. But he didn't notice anything odd. All seemed to be normal-of what he could see. Though he noticed that Malfoy had grown a bit in the summer holidays. A bit too much for Harry's likes. So much he could see was the Slytherin now a good head taller than himself.

/Just great. Now he can really look down on me./

But otherwise... nothing had changed.

"I don't see a reason to apologize to you. There don't seem to be any after- effects from the curses we hit you with." Harry narrowed his eyes and looked down on his fingers. "And besides, you deserved it after saying such mean things about Cedric."

"Ah, stop it, Potter." Malfoy interrupted annoyed. "Don't tell me you still grieve about this Hufflepuff guy. That's just so you."

Harry closed his eyes and fought against the tears that threatened to well up in his eyes. Tears of anger and grieve. Oh, why couldn't he just pounce Malfoy to the ground now, no matter whether it will bring him detention later in school. Just letting his anger break free.  
Warm breath brushed his cheek and Harry squeaked in surprise, nearly jumping out of his seat. Startled he turned his head- and found himself nearly nose to nose with Malfoy, his face just inches away from that of the blond. Just a few more inches and they would touch. He even could see the slightly darker grey sparkles in the silver-grey eyes of his enemy.

As fast as he could, Harry backed away, pressing himself as much as possible in his seat. "Damn, ...Malfoy!"

Malfoy smirked. "Problems, Potter?"

Harry shot him an angry look. "What was the idea of that, Malfoy?"

Malfoy just smiled. "Have I startled you? I'm sooo sorry."

He snickered slightly, leaning back into his seat, arms comfortably behind his head, but without letting Harry out of his gaze. Harry squirmed lightly, cursing his wild pounding heart. Why had Malfoy startled him so?

Damn this Slytherin.

Malfoy couldn't help but to snicker a bit. The look of Harry as he had found his face just inches away from his own had been so great. Alone that had calmed his sore heart. That and of course to smell, just for a second, Harry's sweet breath, mingling with his own. It had tasted so good...  
And now that angry look out of these wonderful green eyes. Malfoy snickered again and leaned back into his seat, arms behind his head. He would rather lay his arms around Potter's slender body and press him to his own, but he doubt that the Gryffindor would appreciate that.

"You haven't told me yet what you are doing here." Harry asked him, his eyes still locked with his. "And don't tell me that it isn't my business, because it is."

Malfoy raised an elegant eyebrow. Now that was interesting. He grinned. "I'm your business? Wow, Harry, I didn't know that you are so much interested in my doings and me. I'm honoured."

Harry's mouth opened and closed, not able to produce a single word. And to Malfoy's delight a small blush crept his neck up to these soft cheeks. And the blush became darker as Harry noticed Malfoy's staring.  
Really delightful.

Harry felt like he would explode every second. That damn blush.

And that damn, bloody, staring Slytherin. Under that silver-grey gaze his blush became worse and worse.

And just because of these damn words. What was it about these words that he had started to blush?

"Don't stare at me like that, Malfoy!"

Malfoy again raised one eyebrow. "Like what, Potter?" He sneered and Harry clenched his fist as he noticed the cold and depreciatory look in these silver-grey eyes.

"And I'm not staring, Potter. I'm just noticing your weaknesses. And look how many there are: your to small, to weak, to thin, you're to damn trustful and friendly, your is always a mess, your glasses are horrible and you're way to helpful for my likes."

Harry closed his mouth. He stared at Malfoy's hand before his eyes; on the fingers with whom he had counted his so called weaknesses. And then Malfoy did something that let his mouth fall open again: He smiled.

Not his usually smirk, but a real smile. Quite a sad one.

What was with Malfoy ? Why was he suddenly so nice?

"How do you want to fight Voldemort when you have so many weak points, Potter! He has no weaknesses and he will not hesitate to let you suffer, before he kills you."

Harry raised his look and gazed deep into the eyes of the blond. Has he heard just a friendly tone in his voice? Since when was Malfoy so nice to him ? And why ?

What happened in the holidays that...Wait..

Harry felt how he paled. "You met him, didn't you! You met Voldemort " He whispered.

Malfoy's smile vanished. Harry felt a shudder ran through his entire body. In the eyes of the Slytherin was a hate from such intense, he had never seen before. Not even in their biggest fights he had seen such hate.  
It scared him.  
For the first time he was scared of Draco Malfoy.

"Yes, I have met Lord Voldemort, the Leader of all Deatheaters." Malfoy said, his voice quiet and emotionless. "I've met him two days after we arrived London. My father brought me and my mother to a house and there he was, sitting on a big chair like a king on his throne and crouching around his feet were his snake and that rat from your weasel friend."

\\Nagini...and Peter Pettigrew\\

"And there where a lot more people besides my parents and me. All the Deatheaters who had escaped at the end of the war and their families. All of them bowed before their new-born Lord and some of had joined the snake and the rat, and where crouching around his feet like..."

"Stop it!" Harry shouted. He stared at Malfoy, who was still looking at him, still with those hate in his eyes. But he knew... this hate was not because of him. It was...

"Damn, Malfoy. Why are you telling me that? You're Slytherin, surely you're overjoyed that Voldemort is back. And surely your Dad has told you everything that happened the night Voldemort came back."

/It couldn't be./

"Yes, he has told me. He has told me everything."Malfoy sighed and suddenly the hate vanished from his eyes, leaving only a silent anger. And then, before Harry could react, he lifted a hand and pale fingers brushed gently over the scar under his hair. "He has told what Voldemort has done to you, but if you believe me or not, I haven't enjoyed it to hear it."

Malfoy moved his fingers and Harry shuddered as his fingers continued to stroke his scar.

Never had anybody touched it. And know Malfoy.

Harry must admit to himself that it felt...kind of good. And he didn't move away from the touch.

"Now that I've met Voldemort in person, and know him not only from the story's of my father" Malfoy continued, his gaze slightly over glazed as if he remembered something. "I have realized that he is not the heroic Wizard that my father has told of. He's a bitter old man full of hate, who wants nothing more, than that everybody fears and worship him. And he wants your head on a plate."

Malfoy's gaze returned to normal.

Harry swallowed. "Malfoy...do you try to tell me that."

\\ It cannot be.\\

A big smile appeared on Malfoy's face, letting his silver-grey eyes lighten up. "Slow today, Potter?"

My first fancfiction from Harry Potter...it is a long time ago that I started this...I hope now I can finish it. :)


	2. Chapter2

Chapter 2

Harry winced and backed away from Malfoy's finger. " You don't need to taunt me. I just wanted to ask if I heard right."

"And, did you?" Malfoy smirked and let his hand fall to his lap. His fingers tingled were he had touched Harry. He stretched his long legs out until they brushed against Harry's and the shorter boy flinched at the touch. "Did you understand, that I'm no longer your enemy, that I'm now Voldemort's enemy, too? You mustn't fear anymore that I would fight against you."

Harry bit his lip uncertainly. Slowly he moved his legs away from Malfoy's-or he tried. With a grin the blond Slytherin snaked his ankles around Harry's and pinned them successful to his until Harry couldn't move them anymore.

"So, now you can't run away when we talk." Malfoy said with a smug tone in his voice, leaning back into his seat so far he could. "Don't hesitate to ask me what you want. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. "

Harry frowned. He moved his eyes from his captured legs to Malfoy's eyes and back to the entangled limps. "Yes, I have a Question: Why have you done this?"

"Ah, good question. And an easy answer. I did it because I wanted to do it and because I wanted to touch you." Malfoy grinned at Harry's puzzled expression. "I see you didn't understand it. It's soo easy." He reached a hand out and brushed his fingers again over the lightning bolt scar. "I did it because it feels good to touch you. Do you realise that your skin is very soft?"

Harry eyes became heavy. He didn't want this. He didn't want to be touched. He sighed. But it felt so good. These cool fingers on his scar. Soothing him. Calming the pain.

Harry's eyes shot open. Disbelieving he stared at the Slytherin before him who touched him- who erased the pain that plagued him now for so long. The pain that he had tried to erase for so long.

"What is it, Potter?" Malfoy asked. "You look shocked all of a sudden." He let out a quiet snort. "Don't tell me you dislike it to be touched. Everyone wants to be touched. And I'm sure your muggle relatives don't touch you."

Harry swallowed. That was right. The Dursley only touched him to hurt him. But...

"It's not that." He managed to say hoarsely. "It's my scar." Harry swallowed again, before he reached up to capture Malfoy's hand with his own. But instead of pushing it away he pressed it slightly against his forehead. "My scar. It hasn't stopped hurting since... since I met with Voldemort. There has been always a light, but constant pain in it, but now..." Harry let out a quiet chuckle. Surely his next words would amuse the Slytherin. But he felt the need to speak them. He couldn't hold them back "I've tried everything to get rid of the pain... but I hadn't tried to let it be touched by a Slytherin."

Silence.

Harry kept silence, too, his eyes closed, still holding Malfoy's hand against his scar. He wished he mustn't, he wished he wasn't so.

/I can't believe that this is really happening. I'm sitting here in the Hogwarts Express with Draco Malfoy and instead of arguing with him, I press his hand against my scar. This must be a dream./

Maybe it was.

Maybe...he would wake up every moment in his room by the Dursleys, still waiting for the end of the holidays and still full of guilt because of Cedrics death. And soon his Uncle would call for him to make breakfast for him, Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley, who had become even fatter in his fourth year in Smeltings. Now Aunt Petunia had to sew his school uniforms herself.

Yes, maybe this was a dream..

Harry inhaled deeply, only to let the air out again with a sigh.

...but not very likely.

He...he could smell Malfoy. With every breath he inhaled some of his soft scent. A mixture of several fragrances tingling his nose: a little bit of lemon, stronger the scent of herbs just like in the Potions Class, a whiff of a light perfume and...

Harry smiled and inhaled another time. Gingerbread. Malfoy smelled also of gingerbread, soft and comforting.

Like Christmas.

And when Harry was true to himself... he could sit here the whole day and take in this scent with every breath he took.

Malfoy moved.

Harry felt his hand been dragged out of his grip and he found himself opening the mouth to protest, as instantly the pain returned to his scar. Not as strong as before, but...if he had the choice between light pain and Malfoy's touch... he must admit that he would prefer the touch. But he didn't even get a word out of his mouth, before Malfoy leaned suddenly forward and...

Harry gasped as Malfoy's lips brushed over his scar, gentle, tender, erasing the pain again..

Malfoy was kissing him!

/What the hell.../

Harry backed away. That...that was just too much.

Malfoy kissing...

In one swift motion Malfoy captured his face with his hands, without even bothered to look up, without stopping to kiss the torned skin. Harry felt his body starting to tremble. Soft tremors that raced trough his body. He couldn't believe this was happening.  
What was that for an odd day?  
First, he received an owl from Dumbledore who ordered him to go immediately to London, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting for him to bring him back to school. And that days before the school even started. Not that Harry didn't want to leave the Dursleys as soon as possible, but it was odd. Then his archenemy showed up, smug and arrogant as ever, speaking from how he was Voldemort's enemy, too.

And now named enemy was acting like their where best friends-more then best friends. Harry was quite sure that just friends shouldn't kiss. Not like this. Something was defiantly wrong.

"Malfoy." Harry began, squirming to get away from the Slytherin. "Malfoy, stop that."

"I didn't knew that your scar could hurt you," Malfoy mumbled, ignoring his plea. "I thought you were just acting to get more attention. Does it hurt now?"

Harry felt a fierce blush creeping up his body.

"No."

It didn't hurt. The only thing he felt was the soft lips.

/Damn./

Malfoy removed his lips from his forehead, though he still held Harry's face in his hands, gazing down into his wide eyes. Harry's blush wandered up his cheeks. He was sure that his face was now as red as Ron's hair.

He swallowed. "I don't know what's happening here", he whispered, as Malfoy didn't speak a word, just continued to look at him. He tried to ignore Malfoy's hands on his face, but it was hard. Their were so warm and gentle.

No, no, he shouldn't think that. The person who held his face was Malfoy.

The person who had kissed his scar earlier was Malfoy.

He should push him away.

He...

Harry groaned slightly and turned his eyes away from Malfoy's silver ones. He could imagine that his friend Ron would throw himself on Malfoy, trying to punch all wits out of the blond Slytherin without hesitation, when he where with him on this train.

"I don't believe this."

This must be a dream.

"This is no dream, Potter, this is reality." Malfoy smirked. "And before we continue to jump from one subject to another, let me answer a few questions that I'm sure you have. So: Yes, it's really true that I'm now Voldemort's enemy and no, I will not tell you now why. That I will do another day. And yes,"Malfoy continued with a brighter smirk, that was nearly a grin, "I know that I must first gain your trust. For you I'm still the typical Slytherin, who wants nothing more than to join Voldemort as soon as possible. But I'm sure that I can do that."

Harry snorted a bit. That was so typical.

"You're confident as ever, Malfoy. Are you really sure you've changed?"

"Oh, I haven't changed a bit, Potter. I've only changed my mind whom I should follow and what I want." Malfoy lowered one hand and brushed it gently over Harry's mouth.

"Do you know what I want, Harry?" He whispered huskily.

Harry bit his lip." What..."

He tried to swallow, but it was impossible to get past the thick lump in is neck.

"W-what do you mean, Malfoy?" He stuttered, cursing his trembling voice. "I don't know what you mean."

Oh, he knew exactly what the Slytherin meant. But he couldn't believe it.

This was Malfoy.

He stared at Malfoy's face that was just a few inches away from his. He searched for a hint, for anything that told him that this was just a joke from the Slytherin, just a way to pay him back the curses he had hit Malfoy with at the end of the fourth year.

But all he saw was a friendly twinkle in these silver-grey eyes, mingled with something else that he couldn't quite explain.

Oh, this shouldn't happen.

Not with Malfoy, of all people.

Harry shuddered as hot breath touched his face. His breath...it was warm...it smelled so much more like him...

/No./

Harry groaned silently and raised his head to look into Malfoy's eyes. "I don't know what's happening. I don't know why it happens."

He didn't know anything anymore.

Malfoy smiled and Harry shuddered again.

"Maybe I should show you then what I mean." Malfoy breathed a last time softly on Harry's quivering mouth, before he leaned forward...

Harry flinched and let out a muffled whimper as Malfoy's mouth descended upon his. His lips were so warm and soft, gentle in their doing, as he moved them slowly over Harry's.

It felt so good, better than anything Harry had felt before. He was torn between the wish to push Malfoy away from him and the desire to let the kiss continue. A low moan escaped his throat as Malfoy brushed his tongue shortly over his trembling lips. He felt his hands jerk, rising to touch Malfoy, to embrace him. Malfoy raised his head a bit, using just one hand and Harry's own hands betrayed him, as they came up and tangled themselves into Malfoy's robes.

Hesitantly he started to kiss back.

Draco groaned as he felt Harry's lips move with his own and he needed all his self-control to hold himself back and to bush the Gryffindor not back and ravish him here and now. No matter how sweet this thought was. But he had other things to do.

Draco smirked and captured Harry's upper lips shortly with his teeth, enjoying the low moan that escaped the other boy at this action. That would come later.

Slowly he let his one hand glide down Harry's body, down his neck, over the collarbone and the breast, while he continued to sweep his lips over Harry's.

How he wished he could let his mouth follow his hand. Taste this soft skin.

But first...

Gentle Draco slipped his hand under Harry's shirt. The black haired boy squeaked slightly and sucked his belly in by this unexpected touch. Draco smiled and moved his fingers feather like over the soft skin, enjoying the slight heat that radiated from it...

His fingers played with the boy's bellybutton.

Yes, he couldn't await it.

Silently he began to murmur into Harry's mouth.

/Merlin, I hope Ron and Hermione will never know this./

Harry couldn't help but to moan, as Malfoy's hand roamed over his stomach. He had never thought that it could feel so good, just to be touched by someone. Malfoy's hand was so hot on his skin, so...

/Oh, Merlin, it feels so good.../

A short, sharp pain tore through his stomach.

"Ouch!" With a yelp Harry turned his head away from Malfoy's mouth, out of his hold. "What...?."

He blinked some tears away and looked down on his stomach. But all he saw was his brown shirt and Malfoy's hand under it, lying there where the pain had been

"What have you done?" Harry asked, still breathless from the kiss.

In a hurry he lifted his shirt and pushed Malfoy's hand away, to look what he had done. But all he saw was his unhurt skin, pale as ever.

Malfoy smirked." I've done nothing that should bother you." He untangled his legs from Harry's and stood up. Slowly he stretched, just like a cat.

A very satisfied cat.

"It was fun talking to you, Potter."

/Talking/ Harry thought, still slightly blushing.

"You call that talking, Malfoy!"

Malfoy's smirked turned into a bright grin. "Ah, we've moved our mouth, didn't we!"

Harry's blush reached new heights. "You still haven't told me where the sudden pain came from. You must have something to do with it."

"Not yet, Potter." Malfoy hook his head and stride to the door of the compartment. "We will soon arrive Hogwarts and I want to sleep a bit before that."

"Bastard!" Harry yelled and looked around for something he could throw at the Slytherin.

"No, I'm a Malfoy."

Malfoy winked at Harry and slipped out the door, seconds before a book hit the door with a loud bang.

Draco smirked." How sweet." He murmured, before he strolled back to his compartment, his mind by the kiss they had shared.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry Potter sighed and watched as the train left the station with a bit loneliness, until he couldn't even see the backlights anymore. He felt alone and he was alone. He stood here at the station, with his trunk and Hedwig beside him and nobody was there to bring him up to Hogwarts. He couldn't even see the horseless carriage, which was usually there to bring the students to the school.

How was he supposed to get up there?

He couldn't carry Hedwig and the trunk all the way up to the school.

When at least Hagrid had been here. But it seemed that he wasn't back.

"Just great." With another sigh Harry turned and looked up the hill where Hogwarts towers rose into the sky. It was nothing more than a darker shape in front of the dark night, with just a few lights shining out in the night, but for Harry it was home. Even when it was a home that was a bit difficult to arrive at the moment.

"There is no other choice for us, Hedwig." Harry said tiredly to his snow owl. "I must carry you and my trunk up to Hogwarts. I don't want to stand here all night."

Hedwig blinked at him with her big golden eyes and hooted slightly. Harry smiled and bowed down to grip her cage. It wouldn't get better if he waited to long.

"A bit lost, Potter?" A warm hand suddenly slipped under Harry's shirt, touching his back.

Harry squeaked startled and whirled around. But in his turn he forgot about the trunk and with a slight cry he tumbled to the ground, landing painfully on his butt.

"Ouch."

Malfoy grinned and leaned down to him, a big grin on his face. "Are we a bit jumpy, Potter?"

Harry threw him an angry look. This day was getting better and better. "That was your fault. You startled me."

He climbed to his feet, ignoring Malfoy's outstretched hand. He had had enough touches with Malfoy for the day. A bit more then just touches, but that he tried to forget.

"Not just jumpy, but also moody." Malfoy shook his head. "And I had thought I had cured you're bad mood."

Harry blushed and avoided to look in Malfoy's eyes. /Why me/ He thought, desperately trying to keep the memories of their kiss out of his head. But that was a bit difficult with Malfoy standing before him. Every second he felt his betraying eyes move to Malfoy's face, to his lips. And his wild pounding heart wasn't helping a bit, either.

/Arrgghhh! This couldn't happen/

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry asked, bowing down to Hedwig to hide his blush. "Why aren't you on the way up to Hogwarts? Surely your Dad has arranged a ride to the school for you."

Malfoy's eyebrows shot up and Harry blushed, as he figured that the Slytherin must have heard the tad bit of jealousy in his voice. He hadn't meant to let him hear, but he was jealous. Of Draco having a family that cared for him, of his great home, of his talent in potions and on top of it that he mustn't walk the whole way up to Hogwarts, carrying his luggage. That he was sure of.

/Damn./

Where were his friends when he needed them?

Harry felt tears building up in his eyes and he closed them. That would be the height of this day, when he would cry before Malfoy. Another joke he could share with his fellow Slytherin students.

"Harry?"

Harry shuddered. There it was again. Malfoy speaking his first name, just like in the train. And in the same gentle tone.

"Harry, I'm not here to make jokes. I'm here to bring you to Hogwarts. You're right that my father arranged a carriage, because he knew that there would be no one to get me when the train arrives. But it's not only for me, but for you, too. Come on, now."

Harry felt his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. "You must be joking, Malfoy." He choked out. "Are you trying to tell me that Lucius Malfoy knew that there would nobody be here and that he even thought about me, when he arranged the carriage!"

Lucius Malfoy, of all people. The man who gave Ginny Voldemort's old diary in the second year, who threatened him when he, Harry, had given it back to him, who had been there when Voldemort came back to live...

This man worrying about him?

What a bad joke.

But Malfoy nodded and before Harry could react, he bowed down and slung his arms around Harry, lifting the smaller and lighter boy easily to his feet.

Harry thought he would faint, as he felt himself pressed against Malfoy's body. In fact, he was so near the Slytherin, that he could feel his heartbeat against his upper body.

He swallowed. And every curve of his slim body. At least that was the sensation his racing mind send him.

He shuddered again. "You can let go of me now, Malfoy. I can stand alone."

Malfoy smirked and tried to look into his eyes, but Harry avoided his gaze. His smirk widened to a one-side smile and his tightened around Harry's waist, letting the shorter boy gasp.

"Why should I let you go, Harry?" Malfoy nearly purred. "I like it to hold you so near. And you like it to feel me, too, don't you?"

He leaned forward slightly. Harry paled.

/Merlin, he wants to kiss me again./

His heart began to beat like he had run a Marathon. He raised his eyes and looked at Malfoy's face, merely inches from his own. Not long and he would feel those lips again. He would feel their softness and their heat.

He moaned and closed his eyes. He was so confused. He shouldn't do this, especially not with Malfoy. He hated him; he hated him since the beginning of his first year in Hogwarts. He shouldn't let himself be kissed by his archenemy, not again.

But, it had felt so good.

It felt good to be held like that.

Secure.….liked…

Malfoy touched Harry's cheek softly with his lips, kissing away a single tear that Harry didn't know he had spilled.

Astonished he looked in Malfoy's eyes. The blond Slytherin smiled. "You're trembling. Do you fear me?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I'm just so confused."

Since Voldemort's awakening nothing seemed to be normal anymore.

"It's a bit confusing, that's true. But like I said," Malfoy placed another kiss on Harry's cheek, "I will gain your trust, fair and without cheating."

"But why ?"

Malfoy lifted one hand and moved it gently down Harry's cheek. "Must you always get the answer to everything, Harry ? Just give me a little trust to begin with and know that I mean what I said. Everything I told you since I entered your compartment is true. And now," he stepped back and Harry stumbled a bit at the sudden absence of his body, "we should go to 'our' carriage, so that we finally can reach Hogwarts."

Under Harry's surprised look Malfoy took his wand out of his robe and pointed it on Harry's trunk, mumbling a few words. The trunk glowed shortly and hovered then a few inches in the air.

"Follow me."

Malfoy grabbed the trunk and walked away, pulling it after him.

Harry sighed. What was so wrong to want to know the answers to important questions?

"Let's go, Hedwig." He lifted Hedwig's cage carefully and followed the other boy. Maybe he would get some answers when he gave Malfoy the little bit of trust he had asked for.

"That's so typical."

Draco smirked and lifted the trunk into the carriage, before he turned to face the smaller Gryffindor. He stood a few feet behind him and stared at the horseless coach with wide wonderful green eyes, the cage of his Snow Owl in his hands.

"What do you mean?" Draco took the cage and placed it beneath the trunk. The Owl -Hedwig, wasn't it? - watched him suspiciously and Draco hurried to put her down, before she decided to bite him a finger of. He needed his fingers.

"I mean this." Harry waved at the carriage. "I should've known that your father wouldn't organise a simple, normal transportation. What is it? One of yours?"

Draco looked at the carriage. He must admit that it was bigger than the ones of the school and beside that it was from a deep green, it had lots of golden decorations on it. "I think so. Though I'm not sure. I can't know every single one. Now, would you please get in, Potter. I don't want to stand here all night."

Harry snorted a bit, but followed the order and climbed into the carriage. Draco smiled as he watched how carefully the Gryffindor was to avoid touching the decorations. As if the gold would be damaged if he touched them.

And he couldn't hold back a snicker as Harry sat himself equally careful on the red velvet.

"You can relax, Harry." Draco jumped in and sat himself beside Harry. "There are spells on the carriage. You could stag it with a knife and it wouldn't get a scratch. So you flyweight will not anything to it."

Harry sent him another annoyed look. But Draco just grinned and let his eyes roam delighted over the shorter boy. Wrapped in his too wide Muggle clothes he seemed more vulnerable beside the wealth of the carriage than before.

And one side of the disgusting brown shirt was hanging down one shoulder, exposing a lot of pale skin.

Draco's smile became wistful. Slowly he reached a hand out..

"You should get new clothes," he said and pulled the shirt back to Harry's neck, brushing his fingertips tentatively over the soft skin. "These are a bit to tempting for my likes."

Harry's face took on a lovely shade of red and he leaned further back into the seat, away from Draco's hand.

Draco smiled and continued to watch Harry, while the carriage made its way up to Hogwarts.

Something was not as it was supposed to be.

He reached a bandaged hand out and touched the silver surface of the shimmering mirror carefully. Instantly the silver began to whirl around his fingers like mad, like it wanted to flee from the touch. Shades of red joined the silver like drops of blood in water, but he ignored it and concentrated his vision on the spot over his fingers.

And if he could calm the surface just with his gaze the whirl there began to fade away. Around it there where still the restlessness like a storm, but there where his eyes lay the mirror returned to its normal state and showed him what he wanted to see.

"How interesting ", he mumbled and leaned slightly forward to get a better look.

A better look on the two boys, sitting in there carriage. And instantly he knew what was wrong.

It was him. Again.

He watched as the black- haired boy blushed and leaned back away from the blond boy.

"You will not again ruin my plans," he hissed, feeling the hot essence of his heat rose in him.

And with it the pain.

He moaned deeply and stumbled away from the mirror.

The whirl washed over the picture of the boys and erased it.

The carriage stopped with a quiet noise of its wheels in front of the great gates of Hogwarts.

"We are there."

Harry rolled his eyes to Malfoy and opened the door. "I can see that myself. I'm not completely blind, you know."

Malfoy snickered and jumped out before Harry could. Then he turned around and held a hand out to Harry. "May I help you?"

Harry blushed and hurried to leave the carriage, ignoring Malfoy's offered hand. "I'm not crippled, either."

"I'm just trying to be helpful." Malfoy set on a pout, but Harry could quite clearly see the amused twinkle in his silver eyes.

Harry needed all his self-control to not punch it out of the Slytherin. Not that he even would stand a chance against the now taller boy. Life was such a mess.

"Don't make fun of me."

The twinkle vanished out of Malfoy's eyes, but before he could say a word another voice sounded around them.

"Mister Malfoy, I see you succeeded in bringing Mister Potter."

Harry cringed inwardly. This voice.

Slowly he turned his gaze from Malfoy to Hogwarts gates and to the tall figure descending the stairs, clad in a black robe.

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape." Malfoy said. "But it took a while to convince Harry to come with me."

The teacher of potions smiled a thin smile and came to a stop before the two boys. Harry fought against the urge to climb back into the carriage and avoid talking to the man.

Even when he knew now that Snape wasn't his enemy, that he was a spy on the side of Dumbledore, he couldn't get himself to trust him. Four years of hatred wasn't easy to overcome.

"I see." Snape nodded to Malfoy, but Harry felt his gaze still on him. "Mister Potter...in this times it's helpful to know the enemy, but it's also important to know the ones you can trust." He said suddenly and Harry raised his eyes, taken aback from the gentle tone he heard in his voice.

Was this really Snape?

These gentle words he would expect from Dumbledore, but not from Snape.

"S-Sir?"

Snape snorted and ignored the question in his stumbled word. Instead he turned his gaze back to Malfoy. "The rooms have been prepared, so your trunks will be delivered there." Harry noticed a sideway glance in his direction. "Have you told Mister Potter, yet?"

"Told me what?" Harry asked. This whole situation was really odd. First Malfoy and now Snape were acting strange, too.

Maybe thiswasa dream.

Malfoy turned to him and instantly Harry was suspicious, as he saw that twinkle again.

"I haven't told you yet, Potter, but for the next two weeks your only companions in Hogwarts will be me and Professor Snape. And", a bright grin spread over Malfoy's face, "we will share a room. Isn't that wonderful."

Harry felt all blood leave his face.

Alone with Malfoy?

Malfoy just snickered and took Harry's hand, pulling him into school.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sunbeam was making its way slowly over the bed, inch by inch, nothing more than a little stain of light on the blanket. Harry watched it silently, lying on his side, fully awake despite the fact that it was early in the morning.

Very early. Harry wasn't sure what hour it was, but surely it was somewhere around six o' clock. Way to early to lay awake in a soft bed.

Harry sighed quietly and snuggled a bit deeper into his soft pillow.

The mattress was comfortable, the silk blanket felt good on his skin, the whole bed was begging to sleep in it. It was more than he had had by the Dursleys. It was even more than what Dudley had. But he lay awake and watched a stain of light, which had sneaked its way through the curtains.

And the worst was, that he didn't know why.

Another sigh escaped Harry's mouth. Slowly he turned and stared at the ceiling, even if he couldn't see it clearly without his glasses. Maybe he wasn't able to sleep, because it has been his first night back in Hogwarts or because he was all alone, expect for his nemesis Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape.

That could be the reason. Especially when he thought about the strange behaviour of Malfoy, first in the train and then on the platform in Hogsmeade. And of course Snape's nice words in front of Hogwarts.

Malfoy's words about a room they would share until the school began.

Harry frowned. A shared room. That was maybe another reason why he couldn't sleep anymore. He had slept with his rival in the same room. Harry turned his head and looked across the room, to the second bed, just a few feet away from him and to the person laying on it.

Draco Malfoy had no problems to sleep sweet and soundly. Harry blushed a bit. He had been so shocked as he had heard that would share a room with the Slytherin. All possible thoughts had jumped into his head, beginning by, that Malfoy would try to kiss him again, to the thought that he would take the chance and do something more with him.

And this last thought had produced a heated blush all over Harry's body, that he didn't had knew was comfortable or not.

A deep sigh escaped Harry. It seemed that, since the beginning of the holidays, there was nothing he knew exactly anymore. Lazy he let his eyes roam the room. In many ways it wasn't different from the Gryffindor dorm, but at least in the design. Like the colours.

Red and gold beside green and silver.

Gryffindor colours and Slytherin colours side by side. Harry sighed. Why couldn't he sleep in his own room in Gryffindor tower?

"When you sigh again I will make you stop, and believe me, you will not like my method."

Harry flinched at the sudden voice. His gaze returned to the other bed, where he met sleepy silver grey eyes.

"Malfoy, you're awake?"

Malfoy let out a tired sort of snort and stretched lazy, just like a cat. Because of the movement his blanket slipped a bit and Harry felt his face heat up again. The silk lay half over Malfoy's naked chest. And one leg that lay over the blanket was naked, too.

/Has he slept without his pyjama on /

Harry gasp as his mind send him pictures of a naked Malfoy. Very detailed pictures.

/Oh, great Merlin./

Harry hid his blushed face in his hands. That was nothing he must see. Not when he was laying in a bed.

Draco winced as the back of his neck cracked slightly. Maybe it hasn't been such a good idea to use three pillows, instead of his usually one. But he had been tempted and had needed a distraction. A good distraction.

For the health of his mind-and body-it hadn't been such a good idea to have his desired love laying just a few metres away from him. He had needed all his self-control to not climb in Harry's bed and follow his wishes.

That would have shocked Harry more than anything, and that was the least that Draco wanted.

He stretched again and smiled, as he felt the silk glide sensitive over his naked skin.

A small gasp caught Draco's attention. Surprised he turned his head. And couldn't hold back a grin as he saw Harry lying on his bed, his face hidden beneath his hands. He could see quite clearly the blush creeping down Harry's neck.

A blushing Harry was more adorable, than a relaxed. Draco's grin widened. Not that he had seen a relaxed Harry since he stepped into the compartment.

And a Harry who replied a kiss was the best.

A kiss.

With his grin still on his handsome face Draco stood up.

Harry hadn't even time to react as he suddenly felt his blanket been lifted, followed from something heavy and warm descent on him. Shocked he removed his hands from his face and found himself face to face with Malfoy.

"Malfoy, what…..."

The blond Slytherin smiled. "…..am I doing?" he ended the sentence. Gently he caught Harry's wrist with his hands. "I just wanted to wish you a good morning. "

Harry gasped as Malfoy pinned his hands beside his head on the pillow. Wide eyed he stared up at Malfoy-and tried to ignore the very obvious feeling of the body that pressed him not uncomfortable into the mattress. "A good morning ! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure that I never wished Ron a good morning laying naked on him."

Harry winced, as he heard his own voice, not as strong and cool, as he wanted it to be. Instead his voice sound meek and slightly trembling.

Malfoy snorted a bit. "I'm sure that you hadn't missed anything. Lying on the weasel. Brrrr. What a thought."

Harry bit his teeth to hold back a moan, as Malfoy squirmed a bit moving his pyjama top.

"Get off me."

Malfoy grinned and moved a bit more and this time Harry couldn't hold back a moan, as he felt Malfoy's belly on his own exposed skin. It felt so good….but it wasn't suppose to. Draco was his enemy. 

/Oh, Merlin./

"I think I will stop when you give me a good Morning kiss ," Malfoy smirked, rubbing his thumbs softly over Harry's wrist.

Harry gasped and his cheeks put on the colour of a tomato. "A kiss!"

Malfoy nodded." Yes, a good Morning kiss. But not a quick one on the cheek. A real nice one, right here."

He tipped with one finger on his lips, releasing Harry's wrist. To hold his balance he put his elbows beside Harry's head, but the shorter boy didn't notice it. Not even that his hands were free again. All he did was to stare at Malfoy's lips just a few inches from his own.

Lips that he knew were warm and soft.

Harry gulped. His mouth felt suddenly very dry. How could Malfoy demand something like this from him?

A kiss. He couldn't do that. He...

Harry shuddered as Malfoy brushed his breath softly over his face, over his lips. Lips that were now only half a centimetre from his own. Just a little movement and their mouths would touch in a kiss.

A kiss. Longing and despise were fighting inside him for control. But….

Finally Harry took a deep breath-not easy with Malfoy's weight on him-closed his eyes and pressed his lips on the ones of the Slytherin. And nearly away again as he felt the warmth of the other.

But Malfoy caught his head and continued the kiss. Gently he swept his lips over Harry's, slowly and carefully. Just like in the train. Warming him, soothing him, creating a comfortable heat in his body.

Harry moaned and obeyed, as Malfoy coaxed him gently to open his mouth-and jerked in surprise as the Blond brushed his tongue against his, embracing it, playing with it.

Harry let out a small cry at the foreign feeling. It wasn't like anything he had felt before. It was strange, hot, scary, breathtaking and wonderful at the same time. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to never stop. This was nothing like he thought a kiss would be like.

With a last short kiss Malfoy broke his lips from Harry's, panting lightly, but with a satisfied gleam in his eyes. "Now, that is what I call a good Morning kiss."

Harry just groaned and tried to get enough air in his lungs, while he slowly and reluctant undid his hands from Malfoy's neck. "Will you get off me now?" he managed to say after a minute of breathing. Yes, he wanted that Malfoy standing up from him, no matter how he liked...

/No./

Malfoy grinned and rolled on one side, releasing the shorter boy. "Of course."

With a heated blush creeping up from his neck to his face, Harry grabbed his glasses from the bedside table in a hurry and keeping his eyes low he fled into the bathroom. He needed a shower. A cold one.

Draco grin changed into a small chuckle as he heard the door to the bath close.

"I hope the shower will help you, love," he mumbled and lowered himself onto Harris bed with a dreamy smile on his lips.

Harry let out a deep sigh as he opened the doors of the big hall and his first sight fell on the tall figure of Professor Snape, sitting on one of the tables, breakfast before him.

/One Slytherin after another. At least this one will not try to kiss me. I hope./

More than reluctantly Harry strolled forward. "Good morning, Professor," he said, as he reached the table. Snape just shot a short glance out of his black eyes in his direction, before he continued what he was doing.

Now that Harry stood beside him, he could see that a newspaper lay on the table. And he could see quite clearly the headline.

/ Minister Fudge declared that all the rumours about You-know-who's return are false. Every../

"What !" Harry grabbed the paper. Surely he hadn't read right. But the line didn't change before his eyes.

"This……this……How can he say something like that ? He was here. He saw Cedric."

"Oh, he knows quite clearly that it is true. But he doesn't want to believe. He's to scared. And that can cost us everything." Snape reached his hand out and took the newspaper from Harry's numb hands. He smirked as he saw Harry's shocked eyes. "Not everyone can be so brave as you, Mister Potter. They fear Voldemort more than anything and don't want to lose their hope that he is gone forever. So, it is on us to do something about it."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't. Blankly he stared at his Potions teacher. What had happened to him that he was suddenly so nice?

"I think I know what bothers you, Harry." Snape said and locked his eyes with that of the boy. Harry shuddered as he heard Snape speaking his first name, without anger or hate. "You cannot understand why I'm suddenly so nice to you, am I right?"

Harry could only nod. Shortly he let his eyes glance to Snape's right sleeve, where he knew was Voldemort's branding.

"I can only say, that there is no need anymore to hate you. We will need all our combined strength to fight Voldemort and have no time to waste anything of it for little children fights. Something that you and Malfoy have seemed to understand." A grin spread over Snape's face, something that Harry had never seen before. It made Snape's face nearly handsome. Harry blushed furiously.

/ Oh no. Don't think that. Don't think that./

He coughed a little to hide his embarrassment. "I…...Malfoy.." Harry sighed. "I don't know if I should trust Malfoy. After all, he is a Malfoy and had never made a secret out of it that he hates muggles and mudbloods. I don't know why he acts so strange all of a sudden."

"You forget to say that he is also a Slytherin. "Snape snorted a bit. "Maybe it will surprise you, Potter, but not all Slytherin are followers of Voldemort. Look at me for an example."

Harry frowned. "I know that you spy for Professor Dumbledore. But I don't know why. And I don't want to know when I'm honest. That is something between you and the Headmaster. The reason why I don't understand Malfoy is his behaviour. Before the holidays he hated me and now.."

"He kisses you. And you like it," Snape interrupted holding Harry's protest back with just his eyes. "And that is what you don't understand. Your own feelings. As for Malfoy. I know his reasons, but that he must tell you on his own. I can just say: In this times you need people you can trust. As many as possible."

Harry gulped. His own feelings. Silent he looked down on the table. A plate full of delicious food had appeared before him and his growling stomach remembered him of his hunger. Slowly he sat down.

"I never thought I would say such a thing, but I think you're right, Professor. Before I think about the action motives of other people, I should think about my own." Snape raised an eyebrow and Harry grinned. "But don't get used to it. I love arguing with you way to much, to give it up completely."

Snape snorted. "I'm right more often than you think, Mister Potter."

"What a nice atmosphere. Can I join?"

Harry blushed as Malfoy's tall figure appeared beside him. The blond Slytherin smiled wide and sat down beside Harry without asking, sending Snape a good morning nod.

"And what where you talking about? I've never seen you two so peacefully."

"That question I could send back." Snape threw a meaningful look at Malfoy's hand laying on Harry's shoulder." But I don't ask, because I know the answer."

Harry felt his blush rise to new heights. Would this ever stop?

Malfoy just grinned. Snape rolled his eyes and stood up to leave.

"Professor, just one question. " Harry asked, before Snape could leave the hall. "Sir, where are Professor Dumbledore and the other teachers? Why are only you here?"

Snape looked back at him. "A bit late to ask this question, don't you think, Mister Potter?" And with that he left the hall.

Harry frowned and stared at the closed doors. "He didn't answer me. Where are the others?"

Malfoy raised his arms defensively. "Don't look at me. I arrived here yesterday, too, like you. I don't know where the others are. But I have a question for you."

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Malfoy. "A question?"

"Yes." Malfoy leaned forward until his face was just an inch before Harry. "Tell me, Harry, that kiss in the train, that was your first, wasn't it?"

Harry could only nod because he knew his voice wouldn't obey him and he was sure that he was as red as Ron's hair. Malfoy smiled and touched Harry's cheek softly with his hand. "So, I own you first kiss, I, Draco Malfoy. Who would have thought that."

He leaned back into his seat and Harry took a deep breath. "Will you ever tell me why you do this?"

"Of course." Malfoy turned back to his plate that had appeared before him. "I will tell you when you trust me. And you can trust me."

Harry sighed. Why didn't he ever receive a proper answer?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  


Where was Dumbledore?

Harry found that this question kept circling around in his head, after he had asked Snape during breakfast and received no answer. With every day that passed it weighed heavier on his mind, especially when Professor Snape refused to answer him. In fact the Potions Master was found back to his sarcastic self and barked at Harry every time they met.

Just like in old times.

It drove Harry crazy, and he began to worry a lot about the Headmaster and the other teachers. Where could they be?

Why had Dumbledore ordered Harry to come to Hogwarts, when he himself wasn't there?

Harry's only wish was that the holidays would be over soon and Ron and Hermione were back with him. He missed them and with every day he strolled alone through the hallways, he missed them more.  
And on his fifth day, as he woke up in the middle of the night with a muffled scream on the lips, he missed them the most.

Panting, Harry set up and stared at the darkness surrounding him. His heart was beating so loud, that he could hear it in his ears, so fast that he feared for a moment it would just stop.

With a trembling hand he brushed some sweat damp strands of his hair out of his eyes and swung his legs out of the bed. His whole body was trembling.

/Merlin, I thought I left the nightmares at the Dursleys./

He swallowed a sob. His heart made a painful movement, as he remembered his time by his family. Except from the pain in his scar, the nightmares where the second reason why he hadn't slept well. Every night like clockwork they kept coming and always the same.

Cedric Diggory, dead, hit by that green light.

Dead eyes staring expressionless up in the sky.

And all because of him.

Carefully Harry wandered to the door, glancing just shortly at the second bed and its sleeping owner. He couldn't stand it anymore. He must get out. He had the feeling the walls kept coming nearer and nearer with every step he took.

Harry had just passed the second bed as he saw it. In the corner by Malfoy's bed stood a dark hooded person, just barely visible, clad in its black robe. And if Harry hadn't been able to see better in the dark than others, he wouldn't have seen.

Harry stood still. With wide eyes he watched the hooded person. In the back of his mind he knew that he should wake Malfoy or go to get Snape, but he couldn't. All he could do was stand and watch as the person left the corner in a swift motion, getting nearer to the bed and Malfoy.

Nearer to him.

Harry opened his mouth as the hooded person went pass the bed, ignoring it completely and came to him.

He couldn't move.

/This must be a dream. Please, let it be a dream./

His whole body trembling Harry tried to back away from the advancing stranger, but it was as if his feet were nailed to the ground. This must be a dream. Just in dreams, in nightmares one wasn't able to move.

The hooded person came to a hold just a few meters before Harry. But still the boy couldn't see who it was. The cowl had been pulled so wide over the head, that the only thing he saw was the mouth and the chin. Though he noticed that the stranger was taller than him, and was roughly the height of Malfoy.

A hand rose and Harry flinched and whimpered a little as the cold leather of the glove touched his face.

"W-who are you?" Harry managed to ask, his voice dragging and weak. He felt as if he was speaking through water. "Are you one of Voldemort's Deatheaters?"

The stranger stayed silent. Slowly he let his hand glide up Harry's cheek, just barely touching the skin. He brushed some strands of black hair out of Harry's forehead, exposing the lightning bolt scar. There he stopped, just holding the hair back.

Harry felt the look, even if he wasn't able to see the eyes. He felt uneasy. For some reason he didn't like this.

Harry snorted in his head. /Of course you don't like it. There is a stranger in the bedroom in the middle of the night. How did he get in here /

He wasn't an expert with the safety of Hogwarts, like Hermione was, but he knew that Dumbledore had cast a lot of new powerful spells to protect the school from any attack Voldemort may start. So, how did this stranger manage to enter the best-protected place that existed?

His hair fell back into place, but before Harry could sigh in relief, the stranger caught his chin and forced his head roughly up, causing the boy to yelp in pain.

And then he spoke.

"I'm not one of Voldemort's lower rats."

Harry shuddered. The voice was cold like ice, without any kind of feeling in it. Just like the voice Harry had imagined a lifeless computer would have. It was even creepier than that of Voldemort. His voice at least had feelings in it, even when it was just hate.

"But don't think I'm your friend, just because I'm Voldemort's enemy." The stranger continued and tightened his grip around Harry's chin. "There is no thing like friendship. It's worse less. You're my enemy just like the Dark Lord, Boy-who-lives."

Harry flinched in pain. The leather of the gloves was digging painfully in his skin, the grip so strong that he could hear the bones of his jaw crack slightly. Just a bit more pressure and he was sure they would break.

"Painful, isn't it? Do you enjoy the pain?" The stranger whispered and Harry felt sick as he heard the sudden lust in the voice.

Fear rose in him. This man was insane. He tried again to move, but what ever was holding him, it was to strong.

"Let him go!"

Both the stranger and Harry flinched in surprise. Slowly the hooded man turned his head and Harry rolled his eyes to look past him.

"I said, let him go!" Malfoy repeated, his wand pointing straight on at the stranger. Slowly he got up from his bed and even in his situation Harry couldn't help to moan in frustration as he saw that the blond Slytherin had again slept naked.

A slight twitch of Malfoy's mouth showed that he had heard Harry, but his silver eyes were staying on the intruder, who hadn't moved yet, and in their coldness they were noting better than the strangers voice.

"Why should I do that?" The stranger asked after a few seconds of silence. "I do not fear you. You will not.."

"I will." Malfoy interrupted. "Even to you. Especially to you."

Harry eyebrows shot up. /Does Malfoy know this man /

"I will to anything to protect him." Malfoy continued. "And you can look for yourself why. Maybe then you will know that I'm not kidding." A low growl escaped the hooded stranger. And before Harry could do anything but to stare at Malfoy, the man grabbed his pyjama jacket on the front and tore it open, so that the buttons flew to the ground.

Harry yelped in surprise and tried again to break free from the man, but again it was useless. Helpless he had to allow that his pyjama top to fall in a heap on the ground, leaving his upper body exposed.

Malfoy smirked and pointed his wand shortly at Harry's stomach. "Now look. It's very obvious."

Harry glared at the Slytherin. Why didn't he do anything? And for what should the stranger look?

He flinched at bit his teeth together as the stranger brushed his hand roughly over the sensitive skin of his abdomen, the leather still cold on his flesh.

And then Harry was free. All of a sudden the stranger pulled his hand away from Harry's chin, as when the skin had become to hot to touch and the small boy fell to the ground, his legs not able to hold him up.

"So, you finally have done what you always wanted. But that will not help him." The stranger said, his voice for the first time with a hint of feelings: pure hate. "And you will not..."

"Save your words. I don't want to hear them." Malfoy interrupted coldly. Carefully he walked around the hooded man until he stood beside Harry, who struggled to get to his feet. "Because all words from you are nothing but lies."

Harry winced. So much hate in Malfoy's voice. Just like in the train when he talked about Voldemort. He shivered. Such coldness...he didn't like that.

"Malfoy.." His whole body was trembling and too weak to allow him to stand. He swallowed a curse. He felt so helpless. And he hated to be helpless.

"Go." Malfoy had his silver eyes still on the stranger, watching every move he made, but Harry felt his leg brushing against his side. He turned his head to gaze at the stranger-and let out a loud gasp.

He was gone.

"Where………where is he?"

Malfoy dropped to his knees and helped Harry to sit up. "Don't think about it. He's not worth it. But, how are you? Can you move again?"

Harry shuddered and fell back against the taller boy. He felt dizzy. Everything around him seemed to move in a circle.

"Not really. I don't understand this. He hadn't spoken any curse and still I wasn't able to move. What…….."

Harry stopped. Soft fingers were making their way slowly and gently from his back, over his sides to his stomach, barely touching the skin, but enough to send pleasant shivers through Harry, and the touch was so warm..

A sigh escaped Harry's mouth. As he turned his head he found warm silver eyes looking at him.

"I'm so glad that he didn't do anything to you. I was so shocked when I woke up and saw you in his grasp." Malfoy mumbled, lifting a hand to stroke the black hair of the boy. "I don't want to think about what he could have done to you."

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head on Malfoy's shoulder. He, too, didn't want to think about what the stranger could have done to him. This voice, bare of any emotions and those hands, cold even through the leather gloves. He shuddered again and buried his face in Malfoy's neck, breathing the comforting smell of the Slytherin.

When Malfoy...

Harry's eyes shot open. When he thought about it. Malfoy hadn't done anything except threaten the stranger. Why had the hooded man disappeared?

/Malfoy had told him to look at my stomach./

Slowly Harry lifted his head from the shoulder of the blond Slytherin, letting his eyes roam down his own body. One of Malfoy's hands lay on his stomach, warm and with slightly spread fingers, over his belly button. As Harry lowered his own hand, Malfoy's fingers entwined tenderly with his, raising it to his face, touching it with his lips.

Though Harry didn't feel the kiss on the back of his hand. All he saw was the magic Tattoo on his stomach.

A silver-green snake with ruby red eyes curled around his belly button and……it was moving. Just slightly, but enough for Harry to see the moves of its slender body.

"What…...what's this?" Harry forced his eyes away from the tattoo to Malfoy. "Why is there a snake on my belly?"

Malfoy smirked, his lips still on Harry's hand. His silver eyes danced with satisfaction. "Don't you like it, Love?"

Harry felt his face warm up with anger. " No, I don't like it. This is your doing, isn't it! That's what the pain was about, wasn't it! You.." Harry stopped. What did he say? " Lo..ve ?" he stuttered.

"Of course." Malfoy's smirk widened as Harry blushed. "You wanted to know the reason why I act like I do now, didn't you ?" The blond raised his hand that holds Harry's, stretching his arm, before he let his lips trail down, savouring the taste of the shorter Boy. "It's a very easy reason, also when it's only a part of it. And it has just three words. I." Malfoy reached Harry's shoulder and the Gryffindor gasped as he felt teeth softly nipping at his skin, "love." Malfoy used his other hand to turn Harry's face to him and looked deeply into his green eyes, "you. I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry goggled at him. What...

/This…can't be…this is Malfoy…Draco Malfoy…how could he love me…that….how…/

Before he could voice a single word, Malfoy leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. A short, tender kiss, that sent a shiver through Harry.

Malfoy smiled at his puzzled expression and gave him another kiss. "You are so sweet when you're confused, Love."

Harry opened and closed his mouth, but he wasn't able to get more out than a quiet "Why?"

"That's a silly question, Harry. Nobody can tell why he falls in Love with another person. It just happens. " Malfoy shrugged. "I just love you and that is the truth. Do I need a reason?" He smirked.

Harry closed his mouth. With more than a little confusion he looked in Malfoy's silver eyes. Surely this was a joke.

Draco Malfoy couldn't love him. Not in that way.

Nobody would ever love him that way.

He shook his head and let his eyes roam over Malfoy's pale features, searching for a hint that he was joking.

But the silver eyes were returning his gaze calmly-and were showing nothing but the truth.

"This cannot be. I'm...You're.."

Malfoy stayed silent for a moment, his eyes still locked with Harry's. Then he shifted so that he kneeled before Harry.

Harry yelped and buried his face in his hands. He had totally forgotten that Malfoy was naked.

The blond snickered slightly and Harry let out another yelp, as Malfoy placed his warm hands on his belly.

"You don't really have a chance to complain, Love." Malfoy murmured in his ear, sending a shiver through Harry's body. "Because it's already too late. This tattoo." Slowly Malfoy traced a finger over the tattoo. "It is magical, it's the old family sign of the Malfoys. A very old sign indeed, so old that is only used when somebody gets bound to a member of the family. To show the world who belongs to the Malfoys."

Harry stiffened. To get bound to a member of the family? What….

Slowly he looked over the barrier of his hands. "What do you mean?" He whispered.

Malfoy smirked and before Harry could react, his wrist was caught in the slender hands of the Slytherin and he was gently pushed down on the ground.

"That means you're belong to me." He said in Harry's ear as he leaned down over Harry. "You're mine, Harry Potter."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Malfoy smiled and gently closed Harry's open mouth with two fingers, before he leaned further down and a placed a tender kiss on his lips. Harry mmmphd into the kiss and turned his head away.

"What have you done, Malfoy?" He asked. "What do mean with your words about an old bound?"

He struggled and was a bit surprised as Malfoy released his wrist and sat up. Of course this gave him a good view Malfoy's slender, naked body. Blushing Harry concentrated his gaze on Malfoy's face as he too sat up.

/Don't look down. Don't look down./

The Slytherin smirked a bit. "I thought I made it clear. What do you not understand?"

Harry's face went red, but this time from anger. "You know exactly what I mean. I want you to get this tattoo away from me. I'm not yours and I never will be. I hate you and I have hated you since our first meeting in Madame Malkins robe shop."

Malfoy raised one fine blond eyebrow. "You hate me? Do you really? Why?"

"I…..." Harry stuttered, speechless. "I just do."

Malfoy sniffed and stood up. With elegant movements, that Harry couldn't ignore even if he tried, the Slytherin strolled to his bed. "That is not a very good answer, Harry. As for your request to erase the tattoo, I must refuse. First, because I don't want to and second, it can't be removed."

Slowly Malfoy took his robe lying on his bed and put it on. Harry couldn't help but to sigh in relief. Finally he mustn't look any longer at this pale, beautiful lean body….

/No./ Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands. /Did I just think beautiful! This can't be happening./

"What do you mean you can't remove it ?" Harry choked out. He tried to hide his blush with his hands and arms, but was unsuccessful.

/This is really embarrassing./

"You made it appear, so remove it." Harry continued, standing up so that he mustn't look up any longer at Malfoy. "And after all, I don't know why you suddenly love me, but I don't think that your father will like what you have done. I, the Boy-who-lived, a member of the Malfoy family."

"My father knows." Malfoy interrupted. He turned around and Harry narrowed his eyes at the smug grin on his face, expecting nothing good. "To inform you, I had to ask my father for his permission to make you mine. He is the head of the house. And when I mean I can't remove it, I can't. Once the tattoo is placed on a person it stays on him until he dies. And, one thing, before you start to yell at me," Malfoy raised a hand to stop Harry, who had open his mouth in protest, "don't think that Dumbledore can help you. Even he can't remove it."

Harry closed his mouth. Speechless he stared at the blond Boy. Dumbledore couldn't help him?

"You're lying. " He whispered, not able to raise his voice. /He must lie. He must. Surely Professor Dumbledore can help me./

Malfoy's grin vanished from one moment to the other. With a hard look in his silver eyes he advanced to Harry until he stood right before him. "Stubborn as ever. I know that you think the headmaster is an almighty wizard who can do anything he wants. But I must disappoint you in that. His magic is strong, yes, but even he can't erase a magic bond. "

Harry shuddered at the angry tone in the others voice and turned his head away, but Malfoy caught his chin with his hand and forced him to look back at him. Though Harry noticed that his grip wasn't as strong as the one from the stranger.

"Listen to me, Harry." Malfoy whispered, looking straight in Harry's green eyes. " This tattoo and the bond can't be removed except by death, mine or yours. So, you belong to me until you or myself die. You're mine. Try to life with the thought. Accept it."

Harry swallowed, but didn't look away. "I won't accept it." He said in the same voice as the Slytherin. He raised a hand and grabbed Malfoy's wrist. "And I will not accept it. I will never return your love. "

"We will see that." Malfoy smirked lopsided and released Harry's chin. But with a swift turn he laid the long fingers of his hand, which was hold by Harry, around Harry's own wrist. "And here I thought that you would be more thankful that I saved you from that hooded stranger." He purred, using his grip to pull Harry nearer to him.

Harry scowled and watched Malfoy's other hand snaking around his waist. "I wouldn't be so ungrateful if you would stop trying to lie at me. Say the truth for once and I.."

"..will thank you?" Malfoy ended the sentence. He grinned and pressed his hand against Harry's lower back, pulling him against his body. "I can have that without telling the truth, can't I?"

His grin widened as Harry blushed furiously.

"Stop that, Malfoy." Harry turned his face away again. And tried to ignore the very good feeling he had, pressed like that against the other body. "Can't you tell me the truth for once?"

Malfoy turned Harry's face to him, this time gentle. "I never lied to you, Harry." He said slowly. Tender he laid his hand on the back of Harry's head and pushed it down to lie on his shoulder. Harry shivered, but didn't struggle. "When you think back you know that I did tell the truth. I have said mean and bad things to you to hurt you, but all I said was always the truth, wasn't it?"

Harry sighed and buried his face in Malfoy's neck. When he really thought about it.…..Malfoy was right. He had said many hurtful things, though it had been always the truth. But……

"Maybe that is right. " He mumbled against Malfoy's neck, feeling a shudder run through the others body as his lips brushed the others skin unknowingly as he spoke. "But now you don't want to tell me. You have acting strange since we met on the train and I don't know why. There must be a reason. And even though you deny it now, you knew this stranger, didn't you?"

Malfoy stayed still for a moment and Harry didn't move either. He stayed in Malfoy's embrace, feeling strangely safe in the others arms. He felt Malfoy's chest rise and fall with every breath and he even felt his steady heartbeat.

/Strange. I never feel this way when Ron or Hermione were holding me. Not that it was that often./

Finally Malfoy moved again. With a sigh he stepped away from Harry, but leaving his hands on his shoulders. "Maybe you are right, Harry. The explanation I had given you recently wasn't much. But trust me when I say it is for the best. And trust me when I promise you that I will tell you some day. Will you trust me?"

Harry returned Malfoy's look some minutes in silence. Then he looked down at his stomach, at the snake curling around his belly button.

Trust Malfoy?

Could he do that?

He thought about the safety he had felt in the embrace just a few moments ago. It had felt good. But was it real?

Maybe this tattoo was doing more with him than just binding him to Malfoy. Maybe it was playing with his feelings, too.

"I….."

The sudden opening of the door saved him a answer. With a dark shadow over his face Snape stormed in the room.

"Malfoy. Potter. Follow me." He barked, already turning around again to leave. But before Harry or Malfoy could voice a single word, he added. "The Headmaster is back and he wants to speak to you, so hurry and don't bother to cloth yourself. "

Harry threw Malfoy a questioning look, but the Slytherin just shrugged. He seemed to be as clueless as Harry. Harry opened his mouth to ask him, but as Snape yelled another "Hurry, dammit" he preferred to follow the Potions Master.

Dumbledore was back, so finally he would hear where he had been. And maybe he could ask him about the bond Malfoy talked about.

Malfoy was beside him as they ran through the hallways of Hogwarts, following their teacher.

"We will continue talking when we get back." Malfoy said to him.

Harry looked shortly at him. Then he nodded, concentrating himself on the dark figure of Snape before him.

After a few minutes he noticed that Snape didn't let them to Dumbledore's office, but to the Transfigurations Room.

"What..."

Snape stopped at the door, showing the Boys with a hurried hand gesture to enter first.

Harry frowned and reached a hand out to open the door, but as he touched the handle the door was opened from the inside-and a familiar figure appeared before the surprised boy.

"Sirius!"

The black haired man grinned brightly at his godson. "Yes, Harry." He grabbed Harry and embraced him tightly, so that Harry couldn't breath. But he returned the embrace with all strength and buried his face in Sirius robe. He couldn't believe it.

Sirius was here.

„Sirius…..Sirius…."

A few tears leaked into the black robe. Embarrassed Harry turned his head away so that nobody would see him crying.

"It's good to see you, Sirius. After you left before the holidays I thought I wouldn't see you for a long time." Harry sniffled as he found his voice finally and leaned back to look into Sirius face. He was still thin and his eyes still a bit of a haunted look, but he looked healthier than the last time he had seen him. "You look good."

Sirius laughed and brushed Harry's hair playful with his hand. "And you look still a bit unruly. But a must agree with you. I feel better. You can thank Remus for that."

"Professor Lupin is here!" Harry tried to look past his godfather, as a quiet sniff from behind him remembered him that he wasn't alone.

/Malfoy.../

Malfoy stepped beside Harry, his silver eyes on Sirius and Harry couldn't help but to flinch a bit as he saw the coldness in them-the jealousy. "I would prefer it if you wouldn't touch what belong to me." He snarled.

Harry rolled his eyes upward. /Oh no./

Sirius returned Malfoy's look with the same intensity as the Slytherin. "I wouldn't touch something that belongs to a Malfoy if my life would depend on it."

A smug grin appeared on Malfoy's face. He crossed his arms before his chest and nodded. "Good to hear that. So follow your own words and let Harry out of your embrace. Because he belongs to me."

Sirius stared at the Blond, then at the blushing Harry in his arms. "Harry?"

Harry swallowed. "It wasn't my idea." He said and stepped back from the older man, so that he could see the tattoo on his stomach.

Never in his life had he seen such a shocked look on somebody's face, like the one his godfather had in this moment. It was very uncomfortable.

Suddenly Sirius turned around and went back into the room he came from, but not before he threw a threatening look at the grinning Slytherin. He didn't even look at Harry.

Harry had the feeling his heart would break as he looked at Sirius back. Did his Godfather hate him now?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Harry stopped as he stepped into the room and his eyes fell on the last person that he would expect at this place, the person he didn't ever want to see again.

"Peter Pettigrew!"

The little man jumped at Harry's exclamation and turned around. His face was pale and he had a bit of a worn out look in his eyes. But he looked healthy and still had this silver hand Voldemort had given to him when the Dark Lord had been reborn, a magic hand to replace his own that he had cut off.

A doing that still made Harry sick when he thought about it.

Just barely was Harry aware of Malfoy who stepped in beside him or of the other people in the room. All he saw was Pettigrew, Ron's former rat, the Animagus. And he felt a sudden burst of anger build up in him.

As if it had its own mind, his hand searched for his wand. And he wanted the wand not to protect himself.

He wanted it to kill.

A soft hand caught his. "Calm down, love," whispered Malfoy's voice into his ear. Warm breath tingled his neck and with a shudder Harry tore his gaze away from Pettigrew.

Malfoy smirked, as the shorter boy looked at him a bit dazzled, and squeezed his hand a bit. Then he looked at Voldemort's servant and Harry shuddered again as he saw a hate in the silver eyes, far greater than his own.

"Look what we have here." Malfoy snarled. "Long time no see, Ratty."

Harry turned his attention back to Pettigrew and saw how he flinched as Malfoy's gaze hit him. Though he didn't look away. Pettigrew's eyes observed their bodies, and as his stare reached Harry's stomach he flinched again.

It was obvious that he hadn't expected that.

But who would?

"Now, now. Calm down, Mr Malfoy," a new voice said. With a soft smile on his lips Professor Dumbledore appeared behind Pettigrew and sat on a bench. He smiled at Harry and Harry felt his anger burning down, returning the smile.

"Professor." He said with a relieved sigh. "You are back."

Dumbledore nodded and his smile turned into an amused one as he let his eyes roam over Harry and Draco, too. On their entwined hands his eyes stayed a bit longer. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be here as you arrived, but I see that you weren't that lonely. Must I congratulate?"

Harry felt a fierce blush creeping up his face. "It's not what it seem to be, Professor." He tried to free his hand from Malfoy's.

Dumbledore lifted an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Harry." He said with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "But isn't that the old Malfoy's family sign that I see on your stomach? As far as I know that means what I think it means."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but as his gaze fell on Sirius the words wouldn't come out. His godfather was standing just a few feet from him, leaning against the wall and his whole body seemed to be strained like a string. And his dark eyes were locked on Malfoy's figure.

Harry shuddered. He had thought the hate in Malfoy's eyes as he had looked at Pettigrew had been great. But the pure hate he saw in Sirius' eyes was….

"This is really a surprise. Who would have thought that?" Dumbledore turned around to Pettigrew, and Harry tore his gaze away from his godfather. Shortly he met Dumbledore's eyes. There were a calmness and understanding in them that told Harry that the Headmaster had noticed Sirius' state.

But it was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it with Pettigrew here.

"Don't you think it's a surprise, Peter?" Dumbledore addressed the short man. "The two boys who had been fighting on different sides for so long suddenly are joined on the same side. And the two best wizards, I must add. How much stronger will they get, now when they are bound together? What do you think?"

Harry was sure he missed something important in Dumbledore's speech. Pettigrew was getting paler with every word the Headmaster said. And why did Dumbledore suddenly sounded so smug?

He looked at Malfoy and saw the same look in his eyes.

Even Snape had it. The dark clad Potions Master stood behind him and Malfoy and watched it all.

What was going on?

And what was Pettigrew doing in Hogwarts?

"I…..I don't think Voldemort will like this." Pettigrew stuttered with a scared voice, speaking with Malfoy. "The great Dark Lord is very displeased with your family's dishonoured behaviour. But he said, when Lucius wants to come back, he will be welcomed if he has a good explanation for his doing. And of course, his family, too. "

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and Harry felt him tense up because he still was so close. "I'm not going to come back to that pathetic old man, nor will my father. Tell him that. The Malfoys won't help him anymore. We have our own Goal now. "He let Harry's hand go and moved towards Pettigrew, slowly.

/Like a cat/ Harry thought as he found his eyes again caught with the elegant moves of Malfoy's body. /A cat that had spotted his prey/

Malfoy passed Dumbledore and Harry was surprised, as the Headmaster didn't make a move to stop the Slytherin.

"So, will you bring my message to the old man?" Malfoy purred. He stopped before Pettigrew, who was shaking like mad. He tried to back away, but Malfoy's hand shot up and grasped the collar of his shirt, holding him in place. And then he bowed forward and whispered something that Harry couldn't hear, but from the paleness of Pettigrew's face and the fear in his eyes, Harry could think what Malfoy had done.

But what was going on here?

Cautiously Harry took a few steps back, until he stood beside Snape.

"Professor? Professor, what is Pettigrew doing here?"

Snape sneered. "This little rat has brought us a message from his Master." He whispered, his eyes still on Pettigrew. "The Dark Lord wants us to surrender to him, then he will not kill every one of us. And then, of course, he wants us to become his slaves."

Harry shuddered. Voldemort was very self-confident when he sent his Deatheater with such a message to Hogwarts.

"I think it is time you leave." Dumbledore said. On his lips was still that amused smile, but his eyes were hard, showing that he wouldn't accept any objection... "You have our answer for your Lord, so you can leave Hogwarts at once. Serverus, would you please show Mr Pettigrew the door."

Snape nodded. For a moment Pettigrew seemed to want to protest, but then he let out a sigh and hurried past the Headmaster and Malfoy.

Harry looked up as he approached him. He looked into the brown eyes of one of his fathers friend when they all had been here on this school, together.

/He was one of the best friends of my father/ He thought /And to save his own live he betrayed that friendship. Why did I hold Professor Lupin and Sirius back as they wanted to kill him? If they killed him, Voldemort wouldn't be alive. Cedric would be alive/

But this question he had asked by the end of the fourth school year.

Harry wasn't aware that he was crying, until Pettigrew stopped beside him and raised a hand to catch a single tear, rolling down his cheek. Harry jerked his head away as he felt Pettigrew's finger on his skin. Wide-eyed he stared at the man, who wasn't so much taller than him. But before he could voice a single word, an angry low growl broke the silence and a hand shot past Harry, gripping Pettigrew around the neck. "Don't you dare touching my godson, traitor," Sirius snarled. "You don't have the right even to look at him. Do you hear me?"

Pettigrew nodded, trembling in fear as he looked at the enraged Sirius. He gasped a little as Sirius closed his hands a bit more, cutting his ability to breathe. Sweat began to appear on his face.

Harry stared blankly at his Godfather.

Should he hold him back?

Should he……..

"Let him go, Sirius. It will bring nothing to kill him." Dumbledore said calmly. "Let him go back to his Lord."

With a deep wounded sigh Sirius let Pettigrew out of his grip. The shorter man threw a last frightened look at him before hurrying out of the room.

Snape nodded his agreement to the Headmaster's asking look and followed Pettigrew. Harry was sure it was to see that the Death Eater really left Hogwarts and without leaving unpleasant presents.

As the door closed behind Snape, Dumbledore sighed and fell back on the bench heavily. Never had Harry seen the old Headmaster so tired. It frightened him.

"Professor? Are you alright?"

Dumbledore smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Harry. I'm okay. Just a little tired from my long journey. It hadn't been easy to visit all our teachers on their holidays."

Dumbledore visited Hogwarts teachers?

"Why?" Harry asked puzzled. He looked at Sirius. His godfather was still staring at the closed door, a silent hate in his eyes. Harry sighed. It seemed that Sirius' hate for his former friend was greater than his own.

"I had a very good reason to speak with them, Harry." Dumbledore shook his head. "It is sad, but I must tell you that not everyone believes that Voldemort is back. They think you killed Cedric Diggory, by accident." Harry winced. "Some believe us, but they fear Voldemort too much to come back to Hogwarts, because they know that this school will be the centre of the fight against the Dark Lord."

"To know that one mustn't be a genius." Malfoy snorted. "But when they think they are safe in their little houses, they are more stupid than I thought. There is no safe place."

"They aren't stupid. They are scared" Sirius turned around. The hate disappeared from his eyes, leaving just a little anger. "They don't want to believe. And with the report from our Minister in the newspaper, where he says loud and clear that Voldemort isn't back, they mustn't believe. They can continue their peaceful lives."

"Until Voldemort appears and kills them. Only then they will believe it. But then it will be too late." Malfoy's voice was calm, despite the sarcasm of his words. "It's always this way. They don't want to hear the warnings, although the truth nearly jumps in their faces."

Harry stared at Dumbledore. Suddenly he felt very cold. He didn't hear the words of his godfather or from Malfoy. All he heard were Dumbledore's words, again and again.

/They think you killed Cedric/

Would all think that he killed Cedric?

He remembered the stares he had received at the end of the tournament. Surely there had been many who had thought that he killed Cedric to win. What would they think now, after the Minister had said that it was a lie that Voldemort hadn't come back?

Surely they would think that he was the heir of Voldemort, that he used Dark Magic.

"Harry?" Warm arms embraced him, pressing him against a body. Harry sighed as the soft scent of herbs reached his nose and leaned shortly into the safety of the hug.

Strange. How could something feel so good, from someone who had been his rival for so long?

This was getting very surreal.

He sighed again and broke gently free from Malfoy's arms. "What will we do now, Professor?" He asked, turning towards the Headmaster, but not before he sent Malfoy a little smile.

The blond Slytherin held his gaze a few seconds, before he returned the smile and took a step back.

Dumbledore smiled gently at them both and Harry couldn't help but blush. "Don't worry, Harry. It will be hard with so many teachers not returning to Hogwarts, but it's not impossible. Many that you know will come back and for those who won't come, there are replacements. For example, Professor Lupin. He has agreed to teach again. And of course Sirius."

Harry was startled. "Sirius?" He turned around and looked disbelieving at his godfather.

Sirius smiled for the first time since he had entered the room. "Yes, I will teach. Don't look so surprised." He raised a hand, as Harry wanted to protest. "And before you say anything, let me inform you that I will not teach as Sirius Black."

Harry closed his open mouth. Not as Sirius Black?

He gave himself a mental slap. Of course. The Polyjuice Potion.

"You don't have to worry, Harry. Sirius will not get caught." Dumbledore smiled at Sirius. "And though he had played many tricks when he was in school, I'm sure he will be a good teacher." The smile vanished, replaced by a thoughtful and serious look. "What we can be sure of is that it really begins. The war against Voldemort. There is no way to avoid this. And there is no doubt that not all your schoolmates will return, Harry. Some parents will not send their children here."

Harry closed his eyes. Not all would return. Would his friends?

Would Seamus come back, Dean or Neville?

And. the fight against Lord Voldemort.

"Do you think we have a chance?" Harry asked quietly.

He remembered his fights with the Dark Lord.

In the first year, when Voldemort had possessed Professor Quirell's body.

In the second year, when he had saved Ginny Weasley from Tom, Voldemort's younger self.

And then, the short meeting last year, when he had been forced to see how Voldemort got his body back, with the help of Peter Pettigrew.

But when he thought about it. in every of this encounters he hadn't fought alone. It hadn't been his doing alone to win against Voldemort every time.

There had been so many who had helped him.

The sacrifice and love of his mother, Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, his parents.

A terrifying thought came to him. What would happen when they would expect him, to fight Voldemort again?

He wasn't an idiot. He knew that now, with Voldemort back with his old power, he wouldn't stand a chance against him. The Dark Lord had years and years more of experience. "A chance is always there, Harry." Dumbledore said, as if reading his thoughts. He placed a soothing hand on Harry's shoulder. "And we only lose when we give up early. But I think it is time to tell you why I ordered you here. Here to Hogwarts and here in the middle of the night. Then you can go to bed again."

Softly he urged Harry to sit down. "So, Harry. Surely you asked yourself why I did send you back to your relatives time and time again, even when they didn't treat you well. I had a very good reason." Dumbledore continued, before Harry could do more than to nod. "There is magic much older than the one you know. Like the one your mother summoned, when she died for you. I, too, used such magic to protect you, Harry. I."

"I know, Professor." Harry interrupted the Headmaster. He smiled lopsidedly. "You cast a spell that would not allow Voldemort to hurt me, while I'm with my Uncle and my Aunt. I heard him say it. I don't know anymore if it were in a dream or at the cemetery. But I know it. What I don't know is why you brought me here before the end of the holidays."

Dumbledore nodded, but Harry saw a single spark of anger in his eyes as he mentioned the graveyard. It was obvious that not Harry alone had failed to forget it.

Not that he could ever forget it.

"Then you know why I did what I did. And I hope that you don't have bad feelings for me because of this. Then for the reason why I sent for you to come to Hogwarts." Dumbledore gestured to the door. "You know that Professor Snape spies Voldemort out for us, don't you?"

Harry nodded. That surprise he would never forget.

"Now, because Voldemort had acquired some of your blood, the magic I cast around you and your relatives is forfeited. It doesn't protect you anymore. And Serverus has heard a rumour that Voldemort wanted to attack your home and to avoid this I ordered you here. Here at Hogwarts you're safe. And as I see, more safe than I thought you would be."

Under Harry's surprised gaze, Dumbledore stretched out a hand and shortly touched the snake on his stomach.

"I knew that Mr Malfoy would try something on you, but that he would do this. What a surprise."

Harry goggled at the Headmaster. He had known about Malfoy's intention?

And what did he mean with his words that he now was safer than before?

"You knew!" Sirius yelled, disbelieving, at the Headmaster. "You knew what Malfoy planned and you didn't hold him back! How could you let this happen? How could you let Harry."

"You don't need to scream." Malfoy interrupted calmly. With glittering silver eyes he stepped beside Harry and looked at Sirius. "We all can hear quite good."

"I can understand why you are so anxious and angry, Sirius." Dumbledore said, his hand on Malfoy's arm to stop him. "But as you heard, I didn't know what Mr Malfoy would try. It wasn't my right to forbid him something. And now we can't do anything about it. Once a magic bond is placed it can't be removed. You know that. But," Dumbledore rose from the bench, a tired smile on his lips, "It's late. We should all go to bed and find some more sleep. Good night, boys."

He nodded to Harry and Malfoy, before he placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Come, Sirius, help me to my room. I'm a bit exhausted."

Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but one look at Dumbledore's calm face made him swallow his words. Sending an angry glare to Malfoy, he left the room with Dumbledore, his hands supporting the Headmaster on his way.

Harry watched them leave, feeling a slight fear creeping up in him. Dumbledore had always been so strong since he knew him, but now.

"He looks tired, doesn't he?" Malfoy said beside him. As Harry lifted his eyes in question, he smiled. "Did you think I wouldn't notice it? I'm not walking around with blinders. After all, he said that it himself, so it is no secret."

Harry sighed. "I just thought he. I don't know." Standing up he looked at his belly, at the tattoo. /I just couldn't believe that even Dumbledore couldn't help me. But he said it. A magic bound can't be removed/

Harry gasped as another thought suddenly jumped in his mind. "We didn't tell the Headmaster about the stranger in our room!"

He rushed to the door - Dumbledore had to know about the stranger - but as he made a few steps, Malfoy's hand grasped his wrist and pulled him backwards, making Harry stumble into him.

"What are you doing?" Harry yelled and frowned as Malfoy slung his arms around his waist, holding him in place. "We must tell Dumbledore. What if the wards around Hogwarts aren't in place anymore?"

"Don't panic, love. The wards are okay. Dumbledore would feel it if something was wrong with them." Malfoy took Harry's wrist and pulling the shorter boy with him, he walked to the door. "Now come, we must find a bit more sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day for us."

Surprised, Harry looked at the blond Slytherin. /A long day/ "What do you mean?"

Opening the door, Malfoy turned his head to Harry. A wide smirk was planted on his face. "I mean that we will go to Diagon Alley. There we will meet my parents, too."

Harry stared at him in shock, not able to utter a single word as Malfoy dragged him back to their room.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Harry?"

Taking a deep breath Harry turned around. Illuminated from the daylight Malfoy stood at the opening of the alley.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy." Harry said silently, before the Slytherin could voice a single word. "I'm sorry that I ran out of the shop like that. But I couldn't stand their looks and whispering anymore, how they backed away from me when I got near them. As if I had an infectious sickness or..."He drew in a trembling breath. "I couldn't stand the mistrust in their eyes."

Silently Malfoy stepped nearer until he stood before Harry. Harry avoided it to look up. He didn't want to see what the Slytherin thought about him, running out of the shop like crazy, what his eyes showed him of his thoughts.

Shortly he wondered why it should bother him what Malfoy thought of him, but it stepped out of his mind as the memory of the people came back to him.

Harry could say truthfully that he had never wanted to be the great hero the people had made him out to be He never had liked the looks he received whenever he stepped into a room, the awe in their eyes when they gazed at his scar.

But in compare with the looks he got now...

Harry flinched as he felt arms entwining around him, pulling him against a warm body.

Malfoy..

"Don't you think it's a bit of a joke?" Harry whispered and after a hesitant second he leaned into the embrace and buried his face on Malfoy's shoulder. "Just half a year ago I had been the great hero who had defeated Voldemort when I was just a baby and now I seem to be a greater fiend than Voldemort himself."

"A deep fall indeed." Malfoy murmured, starting to weave a hand soothingly through Harry's unruly black hair. "But don't worry. I'm not mad at you. I, too, saw the looks in the eyes of this people. As a Malfoy I experienced many of them myself. And I give you the advice: Don't worry too much about them. Ignore them. After all," Malfoy chuckled and slipped his hand under Harry's shirt, causing the shorter boy to letting out a startled gasp," you're now a member of the Malfoy family and you should get used to it."

Despise his bad mood Harry couldn't help but to smile, even when Malfoy's words weren't really a compliment.

A last time he breathed in Malfoy's scent, before he parted with the Slytherin. "Thanks, Malfoy."

"You know, you could really start calling me Draco. We are a pair now."

"I know that I shouldn't give so much to what the people think," Harry continued, ignoring Malfoy's words. "But it is hard; especially when I don't know if our schoolmates will think the same way."

Harry sighed and looked at the opening of the alley. There and then he could see people walk by and he found himself flinching every time one gazed in the shadowy alley, if he wanted to or not.

And an uncertain fear grew in him by the thought of going out there again.

Malfoy watched him with unreadable silver eyes.

"You know, it is time for us to meet my parents." He said suddenly and before Harry could protest, the blond grabbed his wrist and walked with him in tow out on the street.

Harry blinked as the bright sunlight hit him in the eyes and for a few seconds he was barely aware of the protest sounds of the people as Malfoy forced his way through them.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" He gasped as he finally could see again. All the people were staring at them and a few even pointed at Harry.

Embarrassed he tried to free his arm from Malfoy's grip. It was time to go back to Hogwarts. He never should have agreed to come here in the first place.

"Malfoy.."

From one moment to the other Malfoy stopped and whirled around, and unable to stop in time Harry bumped right into him. And before he knew what was happening, the blond Slytherin had cupped his face in his hands- and locked their lips together in a tender, passionate kiss.

A kiss..

In the middle of the street...

Where all people could see them..

Harry moaned as Malfoy deepened the kiss, tenderly searching for a response, and leaned into the embrace. Nobody should say that Malfoy wasn't a good kisser. He was in fact too good...

Harry moaned again as he felt his hands betraying him as they crept up Malfoy's body to his neck, the fingers entwining in the silk like blond hair. But he couldn't part with the Slytherin..

For a time he forgot the people around them. There was only the warmness and tenderness of the body pressed against his and the comfortable heat that rose from deep within him.

But finally they had to part, both gasping for air. Gasping quite loud for air, as it seemed that that was the only sound around them. Harry blushed furiously as he discovered that everybody was staring at them. They stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by people. And everybody had watched them kiss.

"Oh no!" Harry groaned silently and despise that there was no chance to hide, he buried his face into Malfoy's shoulder. That was all he needed: More rumours about him. More reasons to stare at him. As if the one hasn't been enough.

"Damn you, Malfoy." He whispered.

His head against the others chest Harry heard Malfoy chuckle. "I didn't force you." The Slytherin murmured in his ear and he chuckled again as he felt Harry shuddering. "But I must say: You're getting better and better, love."

Malfoy yelped a bit as Harry pinched his hip.

"This is really embarrassing." Harry sighed and squirmed a bit. "Are they still staring?"

"Yes."

Harry looked up and saw Malfoy grinning and nodding at the people, who suddenly seem to remember that they had other things to do. With loud and quiet mumbling the crowd dissolved.

"That was that. Now we can.."

"My, my, look what we have here." A just too familiar voice said, interrupting Malfoy. "A young couple, enjoying each other in the middle of the street. Things like that you don't see all days."

Harry stiffened. /That's just my lucky day today. Must he of all people had to come past here and see me.../

"Hi, Dad!" Malfoy grinned, letting Harry go.

/ ... kissing his son just now/

Harry groaned silently and turned around. There was no way to avoid this. Even if he wished he could just disappear. Why hadn't Dumbledore taught him to aparate!

With the smuggest grin on his face that Harry had ever seen, Lucius Malfoy stood behind him, elegant and good looking as ever in his expensive black half robe, half suit. He wore his hair open, the same hair that he had passed on his son, which Harry had touched just minutes before and that had been so soft.

And the same silver eyes watched him, two pairs of silver eyes with the same lightly amused expression in them as Malfoy followed his fathers gaze.

"I see that you arranged yourself quite irreversibly with my son, so I should welcome you in our family, I think." Lucius Malfoy lifted his hand, shifting his staff with the silver snake in the other hand.

Harry stared at the stick-had Malfoy still his wand embedded in there?-and then at the outstretched hand offered to him.

Should he really give his hand a man who had done so many things to hurt him or his friends?

It was his fault that Professor Dumbledore had been dismissed in the second school year.

He had been Dobby's cruel former master.

He had been there when Lord Voldemort called his loyal Deatheaters to the cemetery.

Lucius Malfoy had wanted to kill him with his wand in this snake staff.

Harry sighed. Not that he had another choice with that tattoo on his body. Reluctantly he stretched out his hand and placed it in the greater one of Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius smirked and used his grip around Harry's hand to pull him closer. Harry rolled his eyes as the silver fangs of the snake once again pushed the hair from his forehead, away from the scar. Harry felt like he had a DejaVu.

"Who would have thought that Harry Potter would become a part of the Malfoy family?" Lucius Malfoy murmured more to himself. "And as my son-in-law, too. I would have laughed the one in the face who would have told me that just a year ago. But now here we are."

Harry snorted. /I would have laughed at everyone who would have told me just a few days before./

"Surely it wasn't my idea." He said loud and freed himself from Malfoy's grip. "And when it where in my might or in the might of another I would erase this magic bound. Nobody asked me if I wanted this."

"But there is nobody who can help you." Draco Malfoy smiled-did he know how much this smile looked like that of his father, Harry thought- and stepped nearer to him. Harry couldn't help but to squeak as he found himself again in a tight embrace. "You're mine; forever."

Harry blushed and turned his face away, as Malfoy leaned forward to kiss him, again. "Stop it, Malfoy. Not again. We're still on the street, you know."

And there were still people who watched them and who whispered behind there hands, about Harry Potter standing and talking with two Malfoy's.

"I could stop." Malfoy placed a tender kiss on the side of Harry's mouth. Harry shivered and to his embarrassment he had to hold himself back not to turn his head and to make it a real kiss.

"I could stop," Malfoy repeated with a smirk. Harry was sure that he knew what he was doing to him. "But I want something for it."

Harry raised one eyebrow.

"I want that you call me Draco from now on; but not with dislike in it. I want to hear it nice and tender. That or," Malfoy's lips found their way one more time to Harry's mouth.

Harry hurried to turn his head away. "Okay, okay. I will. Now stop it.," Harry sighed, ".Draco."

With a superior smile Draco let Harry out of his arms. To be on the safe side Harry stepped some feet away from Mal….Draco and tried to get rid of the blush spreading out over his face.

How he hated this...

"I think it is time that we go, Draco." Lucius said. "Your mother is waiting by Fortesque. She, too, wants to meet the new member of the family."

"Yes, father."

Harry grimaced, but followed Draco and Lucius Malfoy as they started to stroll down Diagon Alley, side by side, but still kept a short distance to them.

He still couldn't believe it. Time and time again he had thought that maybe all this was a dream, but then again he knew that it wasn't. Never would he dream something like this.

Never would he dream being Malfoy's...husband.

Never would he dream that Sirius...

Harry sighed as he remembered his last talk with his Godfather.

"Harry, that can't be. The wards of Hogwarts are strong. Just a mighty wizard could remove them and that Dumbledore would have felt. He is connected with this school in a way you can't comprehend yet." Sirius shook his head. "Maybe this man was just a dream."

Harry sighed in anger and looked around.

It was too early in the morning. He was tired. The rest of the night he hadn't been able to sleep properly, undecided if he should tell Sirius about the man or not. Malfoy had held him back as he had wanted to tell Dumbledore. But at sunrise he had left the sleeping Malfoy in the room and had waited for his godfather before the Great Hall.

He had to tell somebody. Why not the one he trusted the most.

Harry sighed again. He had not expected that Sirius wouldn't believe him.

"A dream! It wasn't a dream." Harry lifted his head so that Sirius could see the dark bruises on his jaw. "Just what sort of dream could do this to me?"

The eyes of the older man widened. Carefully he examined the few bruises along his Godsons jaw, all but a few inches wide.

"They are real, aren't they!" Harry asked and couldn't hold back a little sarcasm in his voice. "Or do you think I've done this to myself?"

Sirius frowned. "No. But maybe it has been Malfoy and you just don't want to tell me. After all, he has forced that bound on you. What brings me finally to the question, how Malfoy could come to be so near you that he could place it on you. Why did you let him touch you?"

"I..."Harry blushed. "I had been distracted." Sirius looked sceptical at him and Harry hurried to continue, before his Godfather could ask, what had been so distracting. He knew he wouldn't like it to hear, that it had been a kiss he had shared with Malfoy. "You speak as if you think that I wanted this to happen. It wasn't my idea. I thought Malfoy hates me as much as I do."

"Why do you think he doesn't hate you anymore? This will be just a complot to get you to trust him, so that he can convince you to go to Voldemort on your own will." Sirius let out a disgusted snort. "I don't know why Dumbledore trusts him all of a sudden. Just before the summer holidays he told me that he had an eye on the Malfoy's and now this. He even let him stay at the Configuration Class last night."

Harry recoiled. That really was strange. Why had Dumbledore changed his mind? And when he thought about it, the Headmaster had looked really pleased, as he had seen the tattoo on Harry's body, not shocked at all as Sirius had been.

He must know something that he didn't want to tell - yet.

Sirius groaned a bit and puzzled, Harry looked up. But the taller man wasn't looking at him, but past him. And as Harry turned he saw the cause of the distress of his Godfather.

Clad in a beautiful black and silver robe, Malfoy stood on the stairs, leading up to the tower where their room was. His silver eyes were narrowed, but unreadable, without an emotion.

Harry shuddered and turned away. Malfoy was more a secret to him as he had been before the summer. In the first four years he had just been an annoying brat, a pain in the neck, but now...he was so different.

Harry couldn't read him anymore. He was a secret. But maybe Dumbledore knew.

Harry shook his head and rubbed his tingling stomach.

"Harry, I will protect you, don't worry." Sirius laid a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever he is planning, he will not get through with it, as long as I'm with you."

Harry stopped. No, when Sirius would be with him, Draco wouldn't be able to do anything to him. But now he wasn't here with him, so he had to protect himself.

He looked up, ignoring the passing people, and searched again for Draco's figure. It was really about time that he stopped acting like a senseless doll whenever Draco was near him. And it was time that the new school year started and his friends would be with him again.

A sudden tingle in his neck caused Harry to turn around. He was being watched. He felt it like a touch.

A short gaze to Draco and his father showed him that it wasn't one of them. But there was someone.

Examining Harry let his eyes roam over the people around him. Where was...

\\ I'm here. To the right.\\

Harry jumped nearly in surprise at the sudden voice he heard. Slowly he followed the voices direction to a shop to his right. It seemed to be one of the few shops that sold animals in Diagon Alley. Many cages were hanging and standing before the house, filled with squeaking, quaking and hissing animals.

Harry recoiled a little in disgust. At it seemed, this shop was a special one for the crawling and jumping animals.

\\ Here I am. Look here.\\

Harry stepped nearer, until he stood before a little cage on top of a greater one with a lizard in it. Suspiciously he stared at the sharp teeth of the green reptile; before he let his eyes search the contents of the smaller cage.

And yelped a bit as small black eyes returned his gaze calmly.

\\ Ssssurprisssed? \\ With an elegant movement the snake uncurled her black body, showing her tan underside, and turned her head to Harry. Shortly her tongue leaped out and tasted the air. \\ You sssmell good. Muccchhh like my own kind doesss. Who are you?\\

Harry found himself staring fascinated at the snake. She was beautiful. "My name is Harry, Harry Potter." He listened to his own voice, to the hissing words that sounded a bit frightening, and that just the snake would understand.

Parseltongue - One of the things that Voldemort had given to him accidental so long before.

\\ Harry Potter. I've heard from you.\\ The snake continued, her-or more his voice-was nice to listen to, even the hissing there and then. \\ All of my kind know about you. Thhe boy whhho defeated thhe Dark Lord. And whho can hear usss and ssspeak to usss. It isss a pleasssure to meet you.\\

Before Harry's astonished eyes the snake made a movement that very much looked like a bow.

"I didn't defeat him. He is back. "Harry shook his head. "And it is my fault."

The snake hissed. Shortly Harry wondered what a type of snake she belonged to.

\\ It wassss desssstiny thhat HHe came back. He never wassss gone forever. But I sssencce your dissstress. Sssomethhing isss bothering you.\\

Harry frowned. He didn't thought that he showed his worries so obviously. But who knew what senses a snake had. That a snake wanted to know his worries after all was strange.

"I..."

"Isn't she beautiful, boy? You have a good eye."

Harry flinched at the sudden voice and straightened, staring at the man who had suddenly appeared beside him.

He smiled, showing a mouth full of shattered, yellow teeth. Harry shuddered and stepped back, trying to breathe shallow, as a fool stench reached his nose, unsure if the stench came from his mouth or from the filthy robe he wore. But very likely it came from both.

"That is a Black Adder, boy, a very lovely one." The man rubbed his hands together, seemingly obvious that Harry was withdrawing from him. "Of course that means she isn't cheap and you must be careful. Her bite is rather painful and very poison."

\\ I would love it to bite him.\\

Harry grinned as the snake spat angrily, causing the older man to stumble backwards.

"I must go now. I was never interested in buying anything."

The man grimaced, his friendly behaviour vanishing from one second to the other.

Harry ignored him. He gazed a last time at the snake, without saying a word- it wouldn't be the best thing to do, when he spoke Parseltongue in front of this man.

The Adder met his gaze with her black ones. \\ Be careful. Sssomeone isss after you. And I don't mean thhe dark Lord.\\

Harry nodded, frowning. Somebody was after him, except from the Dark Lord? Did she mean the hooded stranger?

But why did she know about him?

Harry sighed and walked away from the shop, the snake and the man. This all was getting rather complicated. As if Voldemort's return wasn't enough, was there now another person, a man who had succeeded to avoid Hogwarts wards?

And Harry had no idea who this man could be. His voice had been unknown to him, but voices could be changed. It could be everybody. And what Harry angered the most, was, that Draco knew who it was. He had talked with the man in a way that had shown that he knew him.

And there seem to be no way to convince the Slytherin to tell him. He would just say that Harry would hear the truth, when he trusted him.

But that...trusting him...

Harry couldn't do that. Not completely. Draco was a Malfoy. And Malfoy's hadn't done him any good the past four years.

The only other one who seem to know Draco's secret was Dumbledore. The Headmaster always seemed to know things, which others didn't.

However, Harry decided, that wouldn't last any longer. He wanted to know what had happened to Draco and his parents. He needed more than a simplethat's how it is to believe, that the sudden change in Draco was normal. Not that he had changed that much. He was still an annoying, arrogant brat.

And Lucius Malfoy. That he should be that pleased with his son's choice….that couldn't be right. Where was the man who shown to be rather insidious and intrigued in the second year? Not that Harry had seen much of this new Lucius. Maybe he was still this man, and had just changed his mind about Harry's usefulness.

Harry sighed and rubbed his belly. Him, Harry Potter, a member of the Malfoy family - this just had to be a joke.

Harry lifted his head and let his gaze shift over his surrounding. Around him was a little free space, people avoiding it to get near him, as if he had an infectious sickness. But he knew that it just was the rumours about him. The people hated and feared him now.

He shuddered and put his arms around himself. He wanted to go back to Hogwarts.

"Harry."

Harry followed the voice with his eyes and halted on Draco's figure just a few feet before him.

The slender Slytherin had already reached Fortesque and stood beside one of the tables, where his father already had taken a seat. And on the chair beside him sat none other than Narcissa Malfoy.

Harry stopped shortly, before he took the last few steps. /Draco's mother. What is she thinking of her sons choice/

He had met hear just at one time, at the Quidditch Finals. There she had looked beautiful, but a bit unhappy and arrogant as she had looked at the Weasleys. Now...

"Welcome, Harry." Narcissa stood up and stretched her hand out to Harry as he reached her.

/Another Malfoy giving her hand to me./ Harry thought and looked at the hand outstretched to him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Harry blinked uncertainly at the hand outstretched to him, before he raised his eyes to look at the woman.

Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy. It had been so long since he had seen her, but she hadn't changed much. She still was a beautiful woman, an eye-catcher in her green and silver dress with delicate embroidery around the sleeves and the neck.

And her eyes...

Harry felt his cheeks heat up as is eyes locked with hers. They seemed to look right through him, into his very soul. He knew just one who caused the same feeling in him, when he looked at them, Professor Dumbledore.

Narcissa smiled and lowered her hand, as Harry didn't make a move to take it. "It seems you always turn down a handshake from a Malfoy." She teased, her smile widening as Harry blushed again, this time from embarrassment. "But I don't mind. Sit down, Harry. I want to know my new son-in-law better."

Harry grimaced. Son-in-law. Draco' mother seemed to be quite pleased with her sons choice of a partner for life. Why didn't anybody ask him what he thought about the whole thing?

"I think you will have a lot of questions." Said Narcissa, smiling as Draco kissed her on the cheek, before he placed himself at the other side of Harry. "Especially about the bond placed on you. I have the same, you know."

She laid a hand on her stomach and Harry found himself mirroring her movement, touching his own belly.

He nodded. The question about the bond itself didn't really belong to the important ones circling in his mind, but he greeted every answer he received without asking.

"The bond is more than just a magic tattoo, as you may have guessed or maybe my son had told you. And it is not just a sign from the always jealous Malfoys," Narcissa smiled at her husband, "marking their property. The magic in this bond let the snake move herself, but not only. It also makes sure that the Malfoy you're bonded with keeps feeling you."

"What?" yelled Harry. Shocked he stared at Draco. The blond Slytherin returned his gaze calmly, smiling softly. Harry shuddered as he saw the tenderness in these remarkable silver eyes and hurried to turn his gaze away again.

Draco could feel him? What..

"What do you mean?" Harry choked out.

"It means that I always sense where you are and what you feel." Draco smiled wistfully. He placed his chin onto his hand and looked Harry over. "So I can tell, that you are now a bit confused and shocked about what I tell you. But when I kiss you, you.."

Horrified Harry stared at Draco, his eyes widening. He just grinned, without ending the sentence.

Draco could feel what Harry felt! He could sense where Harry was at all time!

This whole bond story was more awful and complicated than Harry had feared. It meant that he had to be careful what he felt from now on. How should he do that, when he wasn't exactly sure what he felt when he was with the young Malfoy. His mind hated him, but his body……

/Do I really hate him still…/

"Damn you, Malfoy." Harry pressed, glaring at Draco. "This, you never mentioned."

Draco smirked and leaned forward. "I'm sorry, love, but what would you have done if you had known? You never have been able to hide your feelings successfully, and you never will be. And after all, it's not as if you can change something."

Harry narrowed his eyes, not able to say anything against it.

"Don't tease him, Draco, this is new to him." Harry fought down his laughter. New to him?

"This is not new to me." He said, looking at Narcissa. "This I can't believe. I was shocked when I discovered the tattoo and that it bonds me to a Malfoy, a family that never did anything good, as long as I know. But that just now." Harry stopped, not knowing the right words to say what he felt. He shook his head. This had to be a nightmare.

"What I still can't believe is, why? How can a person totally change their feelings for someone in one summer! I have hated Draco since our first year and he hates me. Now, this, and I never receive a proper answer when I ask a question."

"Four years? What a waste of time." Harry heard Lucius Malfoy mumble.

Harry gaped at him.

Narcissa nodded. "It sounds complicated and unbelievable, but I know my son and I know that his feelings are true. He is not lying."

"You know what you must do, so that I tell you everything." Draco leaned further forward until his face was just a few inches from Harry's. "And I will feel when you do."

A shudder ran through Harry's body as Draco's warm breath touched his face. Unable to move he stared in the silver eyes so close to his own, silently cursing his body as he felt the well known heat spreading in his whole body.

"Just trust me, Harry." Draco whispered. He smiled gently as Harry closed his eyes with another shudder through his body and breathed softly on the trembling lips. "I don't ask for your love, not yet. Is it really so difficult to give me a little trust?"

Harry sighed, keeping his eyes closed. If Draco only knew. His parents had trusted Peter Pettigrew and he had betrayed them. Trust was so hard to give.

"How can I trust you after all the things you have done to me and my friends? You have said and done so much to hurt us and you never..."

"I'm sorry."

Harry's eyes shot open. Confused he stared at Draco. Had he really heard that?

"What?"

Draco's eyes wore an earnest look that Harry had never seen before. "I apologize for what I have done to you and your friends. I'm really sorry. I was nothing more than a spoiled arrogant brat, who didn't know how cruel Voldemort really is, but I do now. I saw with my own eyes what he is able do to, what he is capable of, and you can believe me. I will fight the Dark Lord."

Harry could just stare. Draco smirked and put a finger under Harry's chin, closing the open mouth that so begged to be kissed.

Harry blinked. "I never heard you use the word sorry before."

"There is a first time for everything, isn't there?"

Harry nodded dumbly.

"Now that that seems to be resolved I would like to speak further about the bond." Narcissa said. She smiled gently as she watched how reluctantly her son withdrew from Harry. "There is still one thing you should know, Harry, you, too, are able to feel Draco. You are not trained in using just the strength of your mind, for in Hogwarts you just learn to use the wand, like Draco can. We trained him using his mind long before he got his own wand, because it was clear that he would bond with his life partner, instead of just a plain marriage. Now that you have the bond, Draco will teach you."

Narcissa fought against a smirk as she saw Harry's wide-eyed expression. A thought came to her mind, turning her smile to a teasing smirk. "Believe me, Harry, sex will be much more fun when you don't just feel your own pleasure, but that of your partner too."

Harry had the feeling of standing in flames, as a fierce blush spread out over his whole body. Beside him Draco grinned brightly and Harry fought the urge to hit him.

"Sometimes I think you aren't older than Draco." Lucius Malfoy shook his head, sending a glare at his wife. But Harry saw the twinkle in his eyes and nearly choked on his own spit. Lucius turned to Harry. "Don't mind my wife. She, too, had blushed on our first night together, as she discovered she could feel my..." He cleared his throat. "You know what I mean."

Harry groaned inwardly, avoiding any look towards Draco's parents. Why was everybody so determined to make him blush?

"I have a question." He murmured. "Professor Dumbledore said something about, that I'm now more safe with this bond. What does that mean?"

Lucius send his wife another annoyed look. "Since my wife is unable, I will answer this question." Narcissa just smiled and shared an amused look with her son. "I'm not sure why the Headmaster knows this, but he is right. With the tattoo and the bond you are safer, more protected. You know, Harry, every wizard has a natural protection against magic, some more than others. It depends on how strong the wizard is. That is the reason why spells cause slightly different reactions on different people. And now, because of the bond you share with my son, you share this natural protection, too. You strengthen the protection of each other. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, the thoughts in his head racing. Natural protection? Why had he never heard about that?

But when he thought about it, every wizard had some magic in his blood, otherwise he wouldn't be able to use magic at all. So why shouldn't this magic create a slight immunity against other magic.

Harry turned his head and looked at Draco. So, now he wasn't just sharing his feelings with the Slytherin, but they were also protecting one another.

That was so unbelievable.

"I..."

Draco held his hand out, placing it gently on Harry's mouth, before he could voice more than a single word. "You still haven't answered my question, Harry. I asked you for the third time and now I want an answer."

Harry gulped, feeling lightly dazed from Draco's light herb scent under his nose and the warmness on his lips. It was intoxicating.

He drew in a deep breath and nodded shortly, so that Draco removed his hand. I have given you a few answers, not many, but a few. So I think I have the right to demand one from you."

Harry swallowed again, unsuccessful trying to get rid of the sudden dryness in his mouth. "I may not hate you anymore, Draco, but…this doesn't mean I like you."

Draco flinched and Harry felt a strange twinge in his mind as he saw the sadness in his silver eyes. "But, I have to say the truth, there is a little trust in me for you." Harry turned his eyes away, aware of the beginning blush in his cheeks. "That is the only explanation I have, otherwise I don't know why I feel so safe when you hold me in your arms."

A warm hand grabbed his chin, gently tilting his head up, until he looked in Draco's silver eyes, just inches from his own.

/I don't like him./ Harry reminded himself wildly, trying to ignore his wild pounding heart. /I don't like him./

Draco smiled tenderly, the sadness in his eyes gone. "You really feel safe when I hold you?" He whispered, his mouth so near that his lips brushed feather-like over Harry's with every word. "That is good to hear. So your hate can't be that big any more, what do you think?"

Unable to control his trembling body, Harry cursed his helplessness-and the awareness of his body. Every touch of Draco's lips he felt like a jolt letting his body twitch, even when it was just barely. Wasn't it time that he got to know Draco's touch? Why he felt that every time they touched it was like the first time?

"Damn you, Malfoy." Harry whispered with- what he hoped-loathing in his voice. But, he doubted it. "And damn my own body who keeps betraying me."

Harry couldn't suppress a light groan as Draco breathed between his slightly parted lips.

Draco's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Do you like that?" He purred, teasingly tugging at Harry's lips and enjoying how lust and anger alternated each other in the huge green eyes. "Or do you want me to stop teasing you and kiss you properly?"

Harry's eyes widened. Draco tilted his head a bit, covering Harry's mouth with his own, his tongue touched his...

Harry slid out of his chair and it landed loudly on the stone ground. "I must use the toilet." Harry stuttered, avoiding any look at the Malfoys. As fast as he could he hurried into Fortesque, painfully aware of the brief silence around him and that everybody was watching him. He had to get away from Draco, the reason why he had no control over his body any more.

The worst was he didn't know why. He hated the blond Slytherin, he felt the hate like a flame in his body, but when Draco touched him...

"This can't be happening." Harry sighed and closed the door of the toilet behind him, using his wand to lock it, so that nobody could get in. "I have to stop this before it gets out of hand. But how?" Confused Harry looked into his own reflection in the mirror. He raised a finger and slowly began to trail his own features. "What I can't understand, is, why me? I'm nothing but a freak. A freak with a disgusting scar on my forehead. What does he see in me, that he wanted to bond with me?" He reached the scar and frowned. How he hated this thing.

"Maybe Sirius is right and this all is just a trick to get me to Voldemort easier."

"Do you really think that?"

Harry flinched in shock. That voice. Slowly he adverted his eyes from his own face to the black hooded figure suddenly standing behind him.

The man smiled coldly, his lips the only thing to see.

Harry stiffened. "You! What are you doing here?"

The man ignored his question and simply lowered and raised his head. Harry couldn't see his eyes, but he could see what he was doing, nearly feeling the eyes of the stranger going up and down his body.

Harry suppressed a shudder. Maybe he wasn't able to defend himself against Draco, but this guy...

Harry didn't know him, but this he was sure: He hated him.

"I see why he has placed that bond on you, even when you can't." The stranger said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. His lips widened to a hard grin. "You are a bit small, but surely not ugly. Not a bit."

Harry grimaced. "I don't need any kind of compliment from you, especially when I don't know who you are, but I know one thing for sure: I hate you."

"How nice." The stranger stepped nearer and before Harry could move out of the way, their bodies touched. Harry's eyes widened in disgust and raised his wand to hex, but a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him, pinning his arms to his body.

How safe he had felt in Draco's arms, the feeling now was totally opposite. He felt scared and disgusted, though both feelings were nothing compared to the hate and anger he felt.

"Let go of me! How dare you to touch me!" Harry struggled and a sharp hissing intake from behind showed him that he had hit something with his feet. He tried to move his hand with the wand, but it was useless. And he couldn't hex someone he couldn't see.

"And here I thought you didn't have any backbone at all, but now I see that I had been wrong." The stranger sneered, showing his teeth. And then pushed Harry against the mirror with such violence, that it shattered. Harry yelped in pain as pieces of the broken glass tore into the side of his face.

"Do you like that?"

Harry pushed the tears away and glared at the stranger out of the one eye not pressed against the mirror with all the hate he felt. How could he use the same sentence Draco had just minutes ago?

The man just grinned at his look and continued to press Harry's face to the broken mirror with one hand, gripping some of the black hair painfully tight. He looked down at the wand lying on the ground. "Poor boy. Have you lost your weapon? Now you are completely helpless, aren't you?" He leaned forward until his face was so near that Harry could feel his breath. "How does it feel to have the glass in your face? Does it hurt badly?"

Harry just glared and placed his hands onto the wall to steady his body, which was leaning awkwardly over the sink under the mirror. He cursed himself for losing hold of his wand. The side of his face hurt like hell, like when the skin was cut from his face, but that, he wouldn't tell.

"I tell you something, boy." Hissed the man. "You mustn't fear that Draco would hand you to Voldemort, his feelings are true. When he says he wants to fight against the Dark Lord, he will do so. But, you know what." He continued with such a hate-filled voice that Harry shuddered in slight fear. "He is using you. He placed that bond on you to control you, so that his heart will never be broken again. And it doesn't interest him that he took your freedom away. Do you understand, boy? You are a prisoner. You will never be able to have sex with other people, because Draco would feel it. Doesn't that make you angry?"

Harry's eyes widened in hate and disgust as the man slipped one hand under his robe. Again he felt the unusual cold emanating from the stranger, though he was wearing Leather gloves. It hurt as he touched the bare skin of his belly and Harry flinched.

"I said it already: Don't touch me. And don't call me boy." Harry balled his hands into fists. "My name is Harry Potter." Harry pushed against the hand holding him. He ignored the new waves of pain that shot through him because of his movements. He must get away from this man.

The man just laughed and tightened his grip around Harry's belly, around the tattoo, burying his fingers in the soft skin.

Harry hissed as he felt the fingernails tearing into his skin.

"I know your name, boy. But I will not use it." A sickening grin appeared on his face. "You know, I could free you from this tattoo. All I have to do, is, tear it out of your flesh."

He sniggered. "I know it would hurt Draco badly if I did and I love to see him hurt." The man leaned forward and slowly brushed his tongue over Harry's cheek, grinning as Harry winced from the contact. "But I will not kill you. Not yet. Because it is much more fun..."

"Harry!"

Harry gasped. Draco.

The stranger whirled around to the door. Harry felt his stomach clench in slight fear as he noticed the sudden excited smile on his face. What did he...

The man withdrew his hand from Harry's belly and made a movement at the door. And under Harry's astonished gaze the door swung open to reveal Draco's tall figure standing in the doorway.

"Come in, Draco." The man purred. "We were just talking about you."

Carefully Draco stepped into the small bathroom -and his silver eyes widened in shock, horrified at the picture before him. Harry, his face pressed into a broken mirror, blood slowly running down the cold tiles, his wand lying a few feet behind him on the ground.

Draco's eyes narrowed in pure rage. All he felt was cold hate. How could he?

"Let him go! Now!"

The stranger chuckled and, to Harry's surprise, stepped back from him, releasing him.

He was gone so fast that Harry had to grip tightly at the sides of the sink as a wave of dizziness overcame him. Trying to catch his breath Harry leaned back from the mirror, slowly, his eyes straight. He feared to look, but he had to.

The broken mirror was like the net of a spider, except from the fact that it was red. Red from Harry's blood. With horror creeping up his spine Harry looked at the hundreds of pictures of himself in the glass splinters. The whole side of his face was smeared with blood, covered with several cuts. Blood even covered the side of his neck and had started to leak into the collar of his robe and his t-shirt. Blood all over.

Harry tightened his grip around the sink, fighting to stand on his trembling legs. He had never been sick by the sight of blood and he had seen his own blood quite often. But this...

Harry swallowed down a bitter tasting lump.

"Going to puke in the sink!" Asked the stranger in a mock worried tone. He grinned at Harry's white face. "Can't stand to see your own blood?"

"Can't stand to see you." Harry croaked. Slowly he turned around to avoid any further look into the mirror.

Draco let out a deep pained groan as he saw Harry's battered face.

"Harry..."

Harry fought up a smile, but he feared it was more a grimace. "Don't worry, Draco. I'm not gonna die."

A warm feeling grew in Harry's stomach as he noticed the worry in Draco's eyes. Somehow it felt good to know that Draco seemed to care for him. Harry fought down a sudden grin. The feeling that of all people Draco Malfoy cared the most for him, Harry was the top priority made him happy.

Draco's face hardened as he changed his gaze from Harry to the stranger in the black robe. Slowly he stepped before Harry, shielding him with his body. "You must desperately wish for me to kill you." Draco sneered. "Otherwise you wouldn't have hurt Harry like this. But you always had a bit of a sadist in you."

"Of all people you should know it. Because of you I live in constant pain."

A nasty grin appeared on the strangers face as Draco stiffened. "You remember, don't you? If you don't it would be a pleasure for me to explain it to you again. I'm sure the boy wants to know what we are talking about, too."

"Shut your mouth!" Draco raged. With one swift motion he pulled his wand out of his robe. "I will not allow you to tell Harry lies!"

"I would tell him nothing but the truth. But I can understand why you wouldn't want that."

Harry frowned. What were they talking about? What had Draco done to this man?

He shifted his gaze to Draco's back, just a few feet before him. Even through the wide robe he noticed the tension in the blond Slytherin. Harry had the sudden urge to step forward, to lean against Draco's back, to bury his hurting face in the folds of the cloth and smell his comforting scent.

Carefully Harry shook his head. It was really time that he got back to Hogwarts, and that Ron and Hermione would come back. He needed somebody to talk to, to help figure his feelings out. To figure out why he felt so safe and secure in the arms of his rival, when he hated him.

But before he could go back...

"You just would tell what you think is true, your side of the story." Draco steadily pointed his wand at the hooded man before him. "But I won't let it happen. I will tell Harry myself, when the time is right."

The man sniggered condescendingly. "You think you can stop me this time? I tell you what: You will lose, and never get your wish fulfilled." The man stepped slowly nearer to Draco. Standing face to face with him, he slowly wrapped his hand around the hand where Draco held his wand. "And now lower that wand. You don't need..."

"Don't move or..."

Draco and the stranger flinched at the same time and turned their heads around to the voice, to Harry kneeling behind Draco, his wand in one bloody hand. The tip of the wand quivered in his hand, and was pointed at the stranger.

"I give you two choices." Harry said. "Choice one, you finally tell me who you are or Choice two, go and leave me alone. What will it be?"

Silently the stranger stared at Harry-or Harry suspected he was staring. Without seeing the eyes he couldn't tell whether or not. But he thought he could feel his eyes on him, just like a few minutes earlier. A shudder ran through his body at the thought. He didn't want to be checked out by this man. This...

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him. Harry gasped and held his other hand out to steady himself. To collapse in front of the stranger was the last thing he wanted.

"Harry!"

Draco pushed the man away from him and rushed to Harry's side, kneeling beside him, holding him. "Damn, we must get you to Madame Pomfrey." Draco shook his head and tapped carefully at Harry's bloodied face with the hem of his sleeve. Then he threw a hate-filled look at the still silent man. "You know what my opinion on this thing is. I would prefer that you go. I will deal with you later."

Harry gulped back another bad tasting lump. He though wanted to know who this man was, but...

Giving in to another urge Harry leaned into Draco's arms, breathing in... BOOM. Suddenly a loud explosion filled the air. The ground jumped up and down in vibrations, stealing the last bit of steadiness from Harry. Some tiles fell down from the walls, bursting to pieces on the ground. Shards from the bloody mirror broke away and shattered into more pieces. Harry cried out, startled and threw his arms around Draco, who returned the embrace comfortable. His cry went down under hundreds of screams from outside the bathroom, shouts full of panic and shock.

All of a sudden it was over.

The ground lie still again, but the cries remained. Now, mixed with pain and agony.

Fear rose in Harry as he listened to the screams, his face buried in Draco's chest. What had happened?

What had happened?

"Harry?"

A hand gently brushed through Harry's hair. Harry shuddered and tightened his grip around Draco's body. "I'm okay." He muffled. "What was that? Why..."

Draco shrugged, but Harry could feel the stiffness of his body.

"I don't know. But it sounded like something exploded out on the alley."

So it really was an explosion, a great one at that seeing as even the ground had been shaking. What...

Panic rose in Harry. He pulled away from Draco and looked at his face.

"Draco, what about your parents? They were out there."

Fear and panic appeared in Draco's silver eyes, mirroring Harry's own. He gazed at the closed door. "I have to look for them." Carefully Draco stood up. "You wait here. I will go."

"No!" Drawing in a deep breath Harry fought to stand on his feet. As Draco took his arms to help him, he gave him a smile. "We will go together. I, " He swallowed. "I fear what we will find out there, but I want to go with you. I, too, want to know what has happened to your parents." His smile broadened a bit as he noticed the slight astonishment in Draco's eyes. "I can't forgive you for forcing this bond on me, but I know that I must live with it, and your parents are part of your life, therefore part of mine."

Harry hesitated a moment. Then he placed his hand on Draco's. Draco returned his smile, this time with relief, and squeezed his hand a bit.

"Okay."

As Draco made his way to the door-and to the screams-Harry let his gaze wander a last time through the bathroom. He noticed what had been missing as he reached the door.

"Hey. Where is the man?" he asked, at the same time worried and relieved.

Draco shrugged and opened the door.

"He has vanished, as he always does. And before you asked, no, he has not aparated." Draco's hand tightened around Harry's. "But you can be sure that he will come back when you least expect it."

Harry winced a bit. Every time the Blond spoke about the hooded man, his voice was like poison. What had happened between those two?

A sudden thought came to Harry. It was time to...

"Draco?"

Draco stopped at Harry's small voice-and was surprised from the warmness he saw as he looked in Harry's eyes, a warmness that had never been there, when he had looked into the green eyes. His heart clenched. Maybe...

"Draco," Harry continued softly, "I wanted to thank you. It has now been the second time you have saved me from this man. Thank you."

Harry bit his upper lip, before he stepped forward and placed a tender kiss on Draco's cheek.

Draco raised his hand and touched his cheek. Harry blushed; embarrassed from the sudden tenderness he had shown. He desperately needed to talk with somebody about his feelings.

But he was grateful. Who knew what could have happened if Draco had not come.

Draco smiled at his embarrassment. His choice had been right.

The smile vanished as he turned again to the now open door.

"Let us go now, Harry."

Harry nodded and followed Draco out of the bathroom.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Harry groaned faintly. This had to be a dream. Again.

His whole body was stiff like a stick and he didn't know if he would be able to ever move again. Pain seemed to be embedded in him forever, in his face, in his head, everywhere. Especially in his mind. Harry had the feeling he was standing beside himself, his mind so tired that it couldn't take in any more of the happenings around him.

He sighed and leaned back against a house wall, closing his burning eyes. He was so tired, but he couldn't go now. Not when everybody else was as tired as he.

People, who were hurt, people who had been near the explosion.

People who had died.

Harry shuddered and put his trembling arms around his upper body.

This was a nightmare.

His red rimmed eyes glanced over his surrounding.

All he saw was grey dust. It was everywhere, a centimetre thick, on the ground, on the roofs of the houses, on the walls, and in every crack and gap. It stuck on every man and woman standing, sitting or walking around him. It made them all look alike.

All the people shared the same expression: shock and fear, disbelief and fatigue.

Harry shifted his eyes further, to the other side of the street opposite him. It hurt to look at a place where once there had been a house with two stories and a library.

Now there was-nothing.

Nothing but debris, rubbish piled up where once the house had been. Stones, pieces of what once had been walls, books and single sheets of paper, wooden beams that rose out of it all, rests of shelves and furniture's.

It was chaos.

But the worst thing…………….

Harry sighed tiredly. Slowly he raised his eyes. Since Draco and he had come out of Fortescue, he had looked so often at it. No matter where he had been, his eyes had always found there way to it, and still he had mixed feelings when he saw it.

Hate, fear, loathing, and a little bit of satisfaction.

He felt sick and guilty for thinking, that now the people surely wouldn't blame him anymore, but he couldn't help it.

Harry stared in the empty eyeholes of the hovering image of the green skull over the destroyed house, and 'couldn't' erase the slight satisfaction that coursed through him.

Voldemort's sign.

A sign that nobody could ignore or oversee. The only time he had seen it, had been in the night after the Quidditch match, together with Ron and Hermione. Now, not even the Minister of Magic could stay by his opinion that Voldemort hadn't returned. Finally, they had to believe him.

Harry leaned his head back against the wall and gazed up to the blue sky. The thought that people had to die so that others would believe that he had not killed Cedric..

He closed his eyes. All the dead he had seen, all the dead he had helped dig out of the rubbish. He still could see their empty eyes. How could he ever close his eyes again without seeing them?

"Harry?"

Warms hands sneaked around Harry's waist, pulling him gently against a lean body.

Harry sighed and buried his face into the softness of a robe. He took a deep breath, tried to erase the stench of the dust in his nose, but the dust was everywhere.

Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust and leaned back again to look into Draco's face. The blond Slytherin didn't look better than all the others. He was covered in grey dust, his normally neat hair hanging in disarray around his face, and sweat left little paths through the dust on his cheeks.

Harry grinned lopsidedly. Never had he seen Draco Malfoy, who was always so anxious about his looks, in such a state.

"You look horrible. You need a bath."

"Thanks, but I can return the compliment." Draco shook his head reproachfully and looked Harry over. When he reached the bloody side of his face he lingered longer and couldn't hide his worry. Mixed with the dust it looked more awful then before. "You need a bath more than I do, and you need Madame Pomfrey."

Harry opened his mouth in protest. He couldn't go now.

Draco swiftly put his hand onto his mouth before he could say a word.

"No, Harry, don't tell me you feel fine. Remember that we are connected. I can feel you." Draco smirked as Harry's eyes widened. That he had forgotten. "And I feel that you're in pain and that you're tired. Until now, I didn't say a thing, because I knew that it was important for you to help. I wanted to help too, but we stayed long enough. Now, I just want to help you, and Hogwarts is the only place where you can get help."

Harry's cheeks tinted in a faint blush. "But I…..What about your parents? They are…"

"They apparated to Hogsmeade a while ago, to get their wounds healed. They are awaiting us." Draco let Harry go and fumbled with something in his robe.

Harry sighed and watched Draco pulling a golden necklace out of his pocket. At the end of the necklace swung a little pendant, on one side a snake, on the other side a lion. It was a portkey, given to them by Professor Dumbledore. It would apparate them outside of Hogsmeade. Harry had preferred this method of journey. It had been this or going with floo powder. Harry hated to floo.

He gazed at a group of people just a few feet away from them. They were still young, Harry would say not older than himself, but he couldn't remember seeing them in Hogwarts. Maybe they were from another school and just on a visit in Diagon Alley.

They were sitting on the ground, four boys. Like all the other people there were covered in the dust, and so Harry couldn't see the school badge on their robe.

All of them were watching the pile of rubbish and the people digging in it. But as if he had felt the look, one of the boys turned his head and met Harry's eyes.

"Harry, it is really time."

Harry flinched and returned his gaze to Draco. "Sorry."

Draco smiled and put one arm back around Harry's waist, stepping nearer so their bodies touched again. The other hand with the necklace he held carefully between them. "You will see. After a bath and Madame Pomfreys potions you will feel better." His smile turned to a mischievous smirk. Harry blushed as Draco pulled his body a bit tighter against his. "Do you think we can take the bath together, love?" Draco whispered into Harry's ear. "After all, you have seen me naked, but I……."

Harry nearly choked on his own spit and turned his head away.

Draco grinned. How he loved it to make Harry blush. It was nearly as good as kissing him, but just nearly.

"I will think about it when we're in Hogwarts. It is worth thinking.."

"Aren't you Draco Malfoy?"

Draco and Harry both turned their heads at the new voice. The boy who had returned Harry's look was now standing before them. He was as tall as Draco, but not as slender. In a way he reminded Harry of Crabbe and Goyle, but not much. In the brown eyes of this boy was an intelligence that wasn't there in the eyes of Draco's fellow Slytherins.

Now that he was standing before them, Harry could finally see the badge on the robe. It had the same form as the ones from Hogwarts, but this was black, with the shape of a white tower in the middle. Harry couldn't remember of ever seeing it before. The only thing he could be sure of now, was, that the boys and girls weren't from Durmstrang or Beauxbatons.

Draco frowned at the boy. "Maybe. Who wants to know?" He replied, his voice the usually arrogant Malfoy tone that Harry had heard four long years.

The boy smirked and held one hand out. "So you are Draco Malfoy. My name is Harald." Harry frowned. The boy-Harald-had a terrible accent. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Draco didn't even look at the hand outstretched to him. "Sorry, I can't give you my hand. As you can see I'm busy holding more precious things."

Harry blushed. Harald frowned as he shifted his look from the necklace in Draco's left hand to his right hand resting on Harry's lower back.

Then his eyes found the lighting bolt scar on Harry's forehead. To Harry's surprise his eyes narrowed. This was a new kind of reaction.

"You must be Harry Potter." Harald said, shortly looking to his friends. Whatever they saw in his look brought them on their feet.

A shudder ran down Harry's spine. He had a bad feeling.

"You're a hero in my homeland." Harald continued. "But you're a hero in many countries."

Harry looked back at him. "And where is your homeland?"

Harald glared at him and shifted his eyes to Draco. Harry noticed that the darkness disappeared out of his eyes as he looked at the blond Slytherin. In fact it was replaced by admiration and awe.

Harry swallowed down a laugh. It seemed that Draco had an admirer.

Draco noticed it too and a slight sneer appeared on his face.

"I'm sorry that I have been so rude. My name is Harald Brandner and I'm from the Wizard school in Germany, Loreley. In fact that is where I and my friends come from."

Draco raised one fine eyebrow, while Harry just frowned. Once again, he was shown how little he knew from the Wizarding World.

"I've heard of this school. My father told me about it." Harald's shoulders rose a bit in happiness. Draco ignored him and looked down at Harry. "It is a small school, nothing compared to Hogwarts, with just boys allowed to study in. A private school, not connected with the official Wizard school from Germany, and one year cost more than a Firebolt."

A private school.

"I didn't know that there were private schools. I always thought in every countries is just one school." Harry shook his head-and groaned silently because of the pain caused by it. That hadn't been a good idea.

Draco smiled and placed a tender kiss on Harry's forehead, even with the dust on it. "You know so little, love."

Harry sighed. That was true.

Draco turned back to Harald. "I'm sorry, but I need to bring my husband back to Hogwarts." Harry flinched, but Draco ignored it and smirked friendly at the boy from Germany. "He needs medical treatment and we both need a bath." He looked at the skull above the destroyed house and his silver eyes darkened. "It wasn't a good time for you and your friends to come here and I hope you know what I mean." Draco nodded at the skull.

Harald opened his mouth, but before he could voice a word, Draco silenced him with just a look.

"Don't say that you don't believe it. I know it and when you know who I am, you know whom my family served for many years. So, you can believe me when I say that this house will not be the last to be destroyed, and these people will not be the last to die. Take my advice and leave this land as soon as possible."

Harry shivered. Draco's words had sounded like a foreboding. A very terrible foreboding from what Harry hoped that it never would come true. But, deep in his heard he knew the truth.

Harald stood speechless before Draco, his skin a few shades paler than before.

Draco looked away from him to Harry. His silver eyes softened and Harry had the fleeting thought that he would drown if he gazed into them to long.

What he didn't know, was, that Draco had the same feeling. With the difference that Draco would love to look all his life into the green orbs, would love it to hold Harry near him forever. Draco smirked slightly. To protect him from everything.

"It is really time." He said. He raised his right hand with the necklace and let the portkey pendant swung between them, back and forth. "It will be a rough ride, so better hold on tight."

Harry swallowed and slung his arms around Draco's waist. A rough ride was an understatement. As they had arrived in the Diagon Alley, they had landed so hard, that Harry had lost his balance and nearly fell on the ground.

"Ready?"

Harry nodded and leaned his head on Draco's shoulder. Soon he felt the familiar tugging under his navel. The last thing he saw, before the portkey apparated them away, was Harald, returning his last look with hate and loathing.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry mumbled quietly in his sleep and slowly turned around on the other side. Draco smirked and shifted a bit on the bed, so that Harry came to rest against him. The black-haired boy mumbled and laid his head on Draco's shoulder, before he fell back in a deep slumber.

Draco's smirk changed to a tender smile. Carefully he snaked his arm around Harry's waist and brought him closer to his body, so that there were touching from head to feet.

"Sleep, love." Draco whispered, tenderly brushing some dusty bangs out of his face. "You don't need to fear anything."

His fingers made their way down to Harry's cheek. The skin was fresh and tender. Not a single wound had been left over, after Madame Pomfrey was done with cleaning the blood away and rubbing a bad smelling potion on every cut.

Draco was relieved that nothing visible would stay and remind Harry of the incident every time he would look into a mirror. The memories alone would be enough, but no one was able to erase a memory.

After Pomfrey's treatment Harry had instantly fallen asleep on the bed he had sat on, totally exhausted. Neither Draco nor Pomfrey had the heart to wake the boy, even when he needed a bath desperately. But, more important than a bath was a good sleep and Draco had the intention to make sure that his love was getting as much sleep as he needed.

The grey dust had already mixed with sweat and the hair was a total mess.

Draco shook his head and started to tug at some dirt clod tangled in the unruly black hair. It would be one hell of work to get these lumps out of the hair. Even Draco had had a hard time cleaning himself properly after leaving Harry in Madame Pomfrey's care to take a bath. It had taken him over an hour of getting rid of every single dust grain on his body.

"And now I will need another bath." Draco mused, noticing the dirt on his new robe.

Harry moaned in his sleep and his eyes started to roll wildly under his eyelids. Draco slung his arms around his body and soothingly rubbed his stiff back.

"Shhh, love. No fear, no nightmares when I hold you." He whispered, leaning forward, humming a soft lullaby into Harry's ear that he remembered from his own childhood.

Slowly Harry stopped squirming and after awhile he lie still again.

"Sleep." Draco placed a soft kiss on Harry's cheek. "Sleep and let me protect you."

"He is not a person who likes to be protected."

Draco snorted. "That is a well known fact, Professor Lupin."

He turned his head and met Lupins golden eyes.

The old-and soon to be again-DADA teacher smiled and walked to the foot end of the bed. Standing behind him was no other than Sirius Black.

Draco felt the familiar sneer building up on his face. Unconsciously he tightened his grip around the slender body beside him. He would not allow anybody to come between him and his love.

"How is he?" Remus asked, concern in his eyes as he looked down onto Harry, snuggled against the young Malfoy. "We've heard he has been hurt."

"Madame Pomfrey has taken care of him. It was just a few cuts in his face that he had received while digging in the destroyed house." Draco lied, weaving his hand through Harry's hair. "He fell asleep after it. He was very tired after what he had witnessed."

Remus nodded. "Understandable after what had happened. Surely he will take the blame on his shoulders again, so..."

"I will talk to him when he wakes up." Draco said, interrupting the older man. "I will not let him take the blame for it. It was Voldemort's hunger to kill, just he is to blame."

Sirius let out a growl. "Why do you think he will believe such words from you? You and your family are traitors. First, the Malfoy's betrayed the wizarding world by helping Voldemort all those years ago and now you betrayed the Dark Lord. But, who knows if that really is true. Maybe you're lying." He reached a hand out and held it before Draco's face, clenched to a fist. "I do not trust you, Malfoy. And I will not tolerate a relationship between you and my godson."

Draco glared at him, his silver eyes nearly steel grey with hate. "I don't need your trust or your permission, Black. If you like it or not, I already have a relationship with Harry and you can do nothing against it. You can't destroy the bond."

Draco smirked hard. "I can do anything to Harry that I please. Do you want a proof?"

Before Sirius could react Draco bent up Harry's head and kissed him, skill fully slipping is tongue into his mouth. He groaned as he entered the warmness and smoothness of his loves mouth and brushed his tongue over Harry's, making sure that Sirius could see what he was doing, once in awhile licking Harry's lips.

Suddenly he felt Harry flinch. Without ending the kiss, Draco opened his eyes and met widened green orbs just inches from his own. He smiled into the kiss and slowed it down a bit. Harry shuddered as Draco's hot tongue touched his, again and again, coaxing him to respond.

Shyly Harry obeyed, totally oblivious to the fact that his Godfather and Lupin were standing beside the bed. His groan melted with Draco's as he began to kiss back for the first time, surrendering to the wish of his body.

After awhile they had to stop for some air. Panting, Harry and Draco looked at each other in wonder, their faces flushed.

A smile formed on Draco's lips, causing Harry to blush. Draco could feel Harry's embarrassment, but he also could feel the slight excitement. His smile turned to a smirk as he sent Harry the feeling of his own arousal through the bond. Harry's eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth, unable to voice a word.

He swallowed. Draco's sending was like a burning heat in his belly. A very good feeling heat.

A strangled gagging turned both attentions away from each other. And Harry stiffened as he saw the red face of his godfather just a few feet beside the bed he was laying in. A bed where he was laying with Draco Malfoy.

"Sirius." Harry choked and tried to push Draco away, but the grip of the Slytherin around his waist was tight. "Professor Lupin." Remus smiled back at him, but his eyes were worried as they shifted back onto Sirius. Harry cringed as he saw the hate, anger and loathing in his godfather's eyes. Never had he seen him like that. Not even as he had looked at Pettigrew yesterday night. There had just been hate.

"Sirius?"

"How can you kiss that bastard, Harry?" Sirius asked, his voice trembling from all the feelings in him. "His family works for the man who had killed your parents and now you kiss him. What else did you do with him?" With every word Sirius voice grew louder until he was nearly screaming. "Did you already sleep with him? Have you already surrendered to the bond he has forced on you? Are you his whore already!"

Harry paled and even Remus looked shocked. Draco was raging with hate. He felt Harry's pain like a knife piercing through him.

"How can you..." Draco started, but before he could continue, he felt a soaring anger that was not his.

Harry pushed Draco away and sat up, glaring at his godfather, the hate in his green eyes matching Sirius'.

"How dare you call me a whore! I will take the blame for many things. Yes, you're right. In a way I have surrendered to the bond, I've accepted it, because no one can remove it. And yes, I think I've started to trust Draco and maybe it is wrong because he can give me to Voldemort some day. But, you have no right to call me a whore."

"I can call you what I want. I'm responsible for you. I'm your godfather and when I think you're doing is shameful for the son of James Potter I even call you a whore." Sirius raged, ignoring Remus pulls on his arm. "And it is shameful when I see you kissing a boy. It's sick. And I'm sure James would be disgusted, too."

Harry face went as white as snow.

"Sirius, that is enough." Remus pulled the taller man around to him. His golden eyes burning with anger. "What is going on with you, saying such things to Harry? You can't mean what you're saying. I can't believe it."

"I meant every word of it." Sirius spat. "I hate people who are so sick as to fuck their same gender. Even thinking of it makes me want to puke. I knew this Bastard," he shot Draco a hate filled look, who returned it, " would try something, when I got informed that he placed the old Malfoy bond on my godson, but I never thought Harry would give in to it. That he is one of those..."

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

All four jumped in shock as the voice boomed through the room.

Her face red with anger, her eyes sparkling with rage Madame Pomfrey stood fuming in the door of her study. Behind her stood Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa. Their clothes were still covered in dust, but their faces, with an angry expression on them, were clean.

"I can't believe what is going on here!" Pomfrey shouted, coming nearer with long steps. "Sirius, how can you say such cruel things! And to Harry of all people. He needs to rest and not to listen to your accusations."

Sirius's face set on a stubborn look and he backed away from the bed as the older nurse reached it. His gaze shifted to Lucius instead with hate and disgust. Remus stepped beside him to avoid him from doing something drastic.

Madame Pomfrey threw the black-haired man another disapproved look, before she bowed a little over the bed to look into Harry's white face. "Are you okay, Harry dear? You slept quite long."

Harry met her eyes, though without saying a word. Still he heard just Sirius's voice shouting at him. How could he say such things? He had thought his Godfather would be more tolerating.

Pomfrey winced a bit as she saw the forlorn look in the now dull green eyes and the anger for Sirius Black rose again in her.

Draco tightened his hug around the shorter boy. "He is okay, just angry and shocked," he answered for Harry. As Pomfrey just looked in question at him he forced up a smile, even if he would rather be beating the shit out of Sirius for causing Harry pain.

"I can feel it through the bond. It's like a hot stream inside my mind."

Harry lifted his face. That was what he felt.

"Does it hurt?" He asked quietly, worry in his voice. Nobody should experience pain because of him.

"What?" Draco asked puzzled.

"You said you feel it like a hot stream inside your head. Does it hurt?"

Draco smiled and breathed a tender kiss on Harry's cheeks. He shouldn't raise Sirius' anger again, even if it was tempting to do so.

"No, don't worry. It doesn't hurt a bit."

Harry sighed relieved and leaned back a bit into the comforting hug of Draco's arms. It had become so natural. From this protection he looked back to Sirius through his eyelashes.

Sirius had his attention though on Draco's parents, his face twisting in their hate and anger. His fists clenched and unclenched and he looked like he wanted to attack Lucius, who returned his look coolly, and Harry supposed that only Remus at his side prevented Sirius from following his wish.

Harry turned his gaze away as Sirius shortly glanced at him. He didn't want to see the disgust in his eyes again. It hurt him to see his Godfather in such a state, but the words he had said to Harry had hurt more.

"Here, Harry, drink this." A glass was shoved under his nose and groaning Harry turned his head away. An unbelievable stench was emitting from the grey-green liquid in it.

"Must I drink this?"

Madame Pomfrey frowned disapprovingly. "Of course, Harry. It will help your body to overcome the tiredness left over from your blood loss."

Wriggling his nose Harry took the glass from her hand. Draco behind him gasped as the smell reached his nose and leaned back, nearly lying down onto the bed.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut-and before he could think twice he swallowed the potion with two long gulps.

Madame Pomfrey snorted as he coughed in disgust over the aftertaste. "Potions aren't supposed to taste good, Harry. They are supposed to work."

Harry shuddered. "That is a matter of opinion." He handed the now empty glass back. Since he went to school, no potion ever had tasted good.

Narcissa Malfoy smiled and stepped to the bed, leaving her husband to stare at Sirius. "Young men hate to take any kind of medicine. I remember the fights we would go through when Draco was sick in his childhood, he never wanted to take his potions."

Draco's natural pale skin tinted slightly. "Mother, don't humiliate me in front of my husband."

Narcissa and Pomfrey laughed loudly and even Harry and Remus smiled.

A load growl came from Sirius.

"I don't understand how you can take this so easy!" He shouted his gaze shifting between Pomfrey and Remus. "I mean, doesn't it piss you off too, that this son of a bastard has forced Harry into a relationship he didn't want!"

Lucius grip around his snake staff tightened. "Watch your mouth, Black!"

Sirius threw him a menacing look. "I can say what I want and don't I tell the truth. Has your son asked Harry if he wanted this bond on him? Has he asked? No! And because of that I will take Harry away from him and you."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "You think I would come with you? After you called me a whore!"

Sirius glowered back at him. "It is my right to take care of you. I promised James that I would. And getting you away from that bastard," he pointed at Draco, "is necessary for your safety. He will just turn you over to the Dark Lord when he thinks it will get him a nice big reward."

Harry felt Draco's arms tightened around nearly painfully. He looked around and saw a dangerous coldness in the silver eyes.

"Nobody will take Harry away from me." Draco hissed, letting Harry go, to stand before Sirius. "Not even you. I don't care if you're Harry's godfather and what you think is your right or not. You-will-not-take-Harry- away-from-me!"

"You…..."

"Sirius!"

Remus managed to catch Sirius raised fist before he could hit Draco. The werewolf wrestled with the taller man, dragging him away from the grinning Slytherin.

"Let me go!" Sirius yelled, fighting against Remus grip. "I will kill this bastard!"

"Do this and you're a dead man yourself." Lucius growled. With a swift motion he pulled his wand out of the snake staff, pointing it at Sirius, who froze. "You will not touch my son. And you will not interfere in his relationship with his bonded."

His eyes glowing with hate Sirius stood stock still, opening and closing his mouth without voicing a word. Then, with a loud angered wail, he turned around and stormed out of the room.

Silence. Everybody listened to the footsteps getting fainter and fainter until nothing could be heard anymore.

Finally Remus sighed, shaking his head in dismay. Harry looked at him, at the other friend of his father.

"It is true?"

Remus returned his gaze, tired bags under his golden eyes. "What? That your father would be disgusted with your choice of a partner?"

Harry nodded trembling. "I didn't choose Draco, but yes." He didn't want to hear the answer; maybe Sirius was right, but...

Draco took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"No, it's not true, Harry." Remus answered warily. "Not fully. Yes, maybe your father would have been taken aback of it first, even would have been angry how it happened." He looked shortly at Draco. "But it wouldn't have lasted long. Especially because your mother would have loved it." A grin appeared on Remus face. "Yes, she would have been thrilled."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked surprised. That answer he hadn't expected, not in a lifetime. As he looked at Draco he saw the same astonishment he felt. "Mom would have loved it?"

"Yes." Remus chuckled a bit. "But I think the details should be told by Draco's mother."

All eyes except from Remus turned to Narcissa, who seem the hover between anger and amusement.

"Mom?" Draco asked warily.

Narcissa let the grin out she had been fighting and pushed away her anger. "I think that is true. I should tell you from now on. Well, where to start." She stopped for a moment to think. "Ah, I know. First I should confess that I, and your mother Harry, Lily, were friends in our years at Hogwarts. Good friends, even when very few people knew it. At the seventh year we had a fight that broke our friendship, but that is another story."

Narcissa sat down at the edge of Harry's bed, ignoring the questions in Harry's eyes. "But the thing that Remus meant, was a conversation with Lily before that, at the end of six year. We talked about our future and how many children we wanted and what gender our children would be, and of course we talked about how wonderful it would be when our children would fall in love with each other and would marry in the end. Then we would have been related and not just friends."

She smiled with a dreamy expression on her face as she looked at Harry and her son. "How happy she would be when she were still here, that this now has happened. My son and her son have fallen in love and already are bond to each other."

Harry choked. Draco just gaped at his mother, to surprised to say something. He looked at his father but Lucius had the same puzzled expression on his face like himself.

"No wonder you were so carried away when Draco told us that he wanted to bond with Harry."

Narcissa smiled sheepishly at her husband. "Yes, I was very happy when he told us. Finally Lily's and my wish came true." She added and again looked at Harry, who blushed.

Harry couldn't believe it. His mother had been friends with Narcissa Malfoy! Of course, she hadn't been a Malfoy in her years at Hogwarts, but- she had been in Slytherin. And that both girls had wished that their future children would marry was -unbelievable.

He looked at Draco and then down on his stomach. He couldn't believe it. Without knowing it Draco had fulfilled both their mothers wish. Or had he known about it?

Narcissa stood up. "Of course I insist on a real ceremony, a marriage between you two, even when it is not really necessary because of the bond. But I would be happy to arrange everything. So, what do you say?"

Harry looked speechless at her. A marriage?

"Of course, mother." Draco grinned. He grabbed Harry's hand and pulled the stunned boy out of the bed. "But I will leave everything in your hands, you know what to do. Now I must get Harry to a bath. He really needs to clean himself. We will see you at dinner?"

Narcissa nodded.

Harry stumbled behind Draco, as the taller boy dragged him out of the room.

"Did you know?" He asked as they were out of the room. "Your mother and mine?"

Draco shook his head, descending some stairs. "No. If I had knew that they were friends, I would have approached you in a total different way when we met in our first year. But, of course it is really nice to know that our mothers wished this all to happen."

Harry grimaced. "This isn't apologizing your doing. In one way I am on Sirius's side: You didn't have the right to place the bond on me without asking."

"It can't be changed." Draco rolled his eyes. "And what would you have done if I had asked you? You would have laughed at me, called me insane. This way was the easiest way."

They turned around a corner.

"What do you think your little friends will say?" Draco suddenly wanted to know. As Harry just looked blankly at him, he sighed. "I mean your two close friends Weasel and the mudblood. How will they react to the fact that we are now a couple?"

"Don't call them so!" Harry raged. He tried to free his hand, but Draco's grip was tight and he continued to pull Harry behind him through the corridors without much effort, ignoring his struggles.

Angry Harry lifted his other hand and slapped Draco on the back of his head. Or he tried.

With a quick movement, that Harry never had seen from him before, Draco whirled around and caught Harry's hand before it could reach him. "Want to hit me?" He purred, using his grip around Harry's wrists to pull him against the nearest wall.

Harry gasped as the air was pushed forcefully out of his lungs. He glared at the blond.

Draco smirked, keeping Harry's hands on the wall on both sides of his head. "I'm faster now, love." He whispered, pressing his hips against Harry's, smiling as the shorter boy let out another gasp at that, followed by a warm feeling of starting arousal through the bond. "Don't try to hit me, Harry."

Harry groaned as Draco nipped at the soft skin of his neck and half- heartedly tried to push him away. "Stop, Draco. Don't.…..Ouch."

Draco softly licked the hickey he had created, before he lifted his head to look into Harry's dazed eyes. All anger had vanished out of them. He grinned. "A good way to sooth your anger, isn't it love?"

Harry felt his face heat up, not denying it. It wasn't easy to hold on his anger when soft lips were kissing him.

He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Just don't call them that, okay?"

Draco nodded and withdrew from him. As soon as he let go of Harry's wrist, Harry gave him a quick slap on the head.

"You're not the only fast person here." Harry grinned. He lifted his hand again and pushed some disordered blond strands behind Draco's ear, ignoring his pouting glare.

/How soft it is./

"You haven't answered me."

Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I can tell you, how they will react. Ron will yell murder and try to kill you. Hermione will be shocked, but will try to speak to you about it. Nothing as drastic as Sirius's behaviour."

Draco's face darkened at he mentioned Sirius. "He had no right to call you a whore. And I swear, if he says it again, I will kill him."

Harry turned his eyes away. He didn't want to talk about Sirius. It hurt too much.

For a while, they stood in the corridor, facing each other, but not speaking. Draco stood so near, Harry could feel the heat emanating from him, could smell his scent. It was strangely soothing. With Draco nearly towering over him because of the amazing growth spurt the Slytherin had gone through this summer, Harry felt somehow protected and safe. When he just knew where it came from so suddenly.

Or did he have that feeling all years long? He couldn't remember.

As long as he could think back, there had always been just anger and loathing for the heir of Malfoy.

Could feelings change so much?

Harry let out a deep sigh. If his mother were still alive, surely she would help him through this mess of feelings. Some mother-son talk would surely help.

He frowned. Had Aunt Petunia talked to Dudley about such things? Not with Harry listening, that was sure. But when he thought about Dudley and a girl.

Would any girl wanted to go out with Dudley?

"No."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Harry couldn't stop a grin spreading out on his face. No, Dudley and a girl were impossible to imagine.

"It's nothing. I just thought about something.." He pushed himself away from the wall. "Didn't you want to take me to a bath?"

"Of course. We could already be there if you weren't struggling so much."

Draco took Harry's hand again, but this time Harry followed him without being pulled.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry lie silently on top of his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The light of the fire caused some shadows to dance, creating odd-looking creatures, but Harry didn't pay attention to it. He didn't even bother to lighten the room more. He liked it this dim.

Beside him lay the book Hagrid had given to him at the end of his first year, the book with pictures of his parents. From time to time Harry's eyes wavered to the photo on the open side. The picture of a beautiful woman, her sparkling green eyes full of laughter and love as she looked down at the baby boy in her arms.

"Mum." Harry whispered. He rolled onto his belly and locked his eyes, the eyes of his mother, with Lily Potter's. She smiled up at him and Harry couldn't help but smile, too, even when it was just a picture.

As this picture had been taken Lily hadn't known that she would die so soon, dying because she had protected her son, protected him.

"Mum," Harry whispered, " Today I met your friend, Narcissa Malfoy. She told be about you two, how good your friendship had been. And she told me about the plans you two had had, the one with your children getting married." Harry slipped his hand between his body and touched his belly where the tattoo was, "Mum, it seems that Draco Malfoy, the son of your friend has fulfilled your wish, without knowing it. He had placed the old bond of the Malfoy's on me, has made me his mate, husband, what you like to call it."

Lily Potter bowed her head down and placed a tender kiss on the brow of her child. The little boy laughed with glee and raised his little hands to touch her red hair.

Harry touched his brow, swept his fingers slowly over the skin and the scar. He wished he could remember his mothers kisses, would remember how she had smelled.

"Would you really be happy about it, like Narcissa is? Sirius hates it. He is here, you know. He still must hide from the ministry, but he is here to help Professor Dumbledore. In the beginning I had been so happy to see him, I really love him, you know. But, he caught me and Draco kissing and he yelled at me. He demands that Draco erases the bond on me, though this is impossible. Even Dumbledore said it."

Harry sighed. "I don't know how I feel about it, mum. In the beginning, I was so confused and angry with Draco, that he had done this to me. But now he confuses me more than ever. I hate him-I think- but I like what he does to me, I like the kisses and the touches and most of all-I feel so safe when he holds me. I'm so confused. I don't know what I'm feeling anymore."

Harry diverted his eyes from the photo and let them move around the room. For two weeks it had been his and Draco's room, but tomorrow he would return to Gryffindor tower and his room there, that he shared with his year mates and this room here...what would happen to it.

"I wished you were here, mum." Harry murmured, closing his eyes. "I wish I could talk to you. I need to know so many things."

"I'm here for you." A voice whispered near his ear, warm breath softly brushing his cheeks.

Hands carefully rolled him around. Harry sighed and opened his eyes to look up at Draco, leaning over him.

"How long have you been here?"

Draco smiled ruefully. "Long enough I think. But, I didn't want to. I just opened the door and heard you speaking. I'm sorry."

Harry just nodded. It was his own fault. He should have closed the door when he wanted to be alone. He shifted his eyes over Draco's face above him. For once his pale features were slightly reddened and his blond hair was still wet from his bath. His silver eyes wore a wary look, as if he waited for Harry to yell and scream.

Harry smiled. "I will not yell at you." He mumbled. "It was my own fault. But what do you think about what I said. It involved you after all."

"I was as surprised as you were, Harry, as my mother told us about her and your mother being friends in her school years. I didn't know anything about it and I placed the bond on you because I love you, and not to please my mother. You have to believe that." Draco looked at the picture of Harry's mother beside his head. "You're mother was very beautiful, Harry, and she has given this beauty to you with her remarkable eyes."

Harry blushed at that.

"I truly can say, I would have loved it to meet you mother." Draco continued, smiling at Harry's embarrassment. He lifted a hand and gently stroked Harry's cheek. "And I wish she could be here to help you through you mixed feelings. I will not do it, because I want you to learn it yourself, that you discover on your own what it means to be in love."

Harry blush deepened, but he smiled. "That very honourable of you. Where did you learn such wise words?" He teased.

Draco set on an arrogant expression. " These words are from the Great Wise Draco Malfoy. You would do good to remember them and to do what they say."

"And what are they saying exactly?"

A wicked smirk appeared on Draco's face. He leaned down until his face was just inches from Harry's. Harry shuddered as his warm breath brushed his face, smelling of herbs and mint.

"They say: Give the man a goodnight kiss and go to sleep after it."

Harry couldn't help but to snicker slightly, even with Draco's face before him. This was so much like their first morning together in this room, where Draco had demanded a good morning kiss from him.

But, this now was different. Harry looked at the soft lips and desperately wished to feel them again.

"Anything the Wise wishes." He mumbled, raising his arms to put them around Draco's neck, pushing his doubts away for the moment.

Shortly he met surprised silver eyes, before he closed his own at the moment his lips touched Draco's softly, featherlike. Once, twice Harry swept his lips over Draco's mouth without much pressure, slowly weaving his hands through Draco's wet hair. Even wet it was so soft that he wished he could touch it every time.

As Draco began to kiss back, Harry smiled and turned his head away even when his wild pounding heart begged him to continue.

"That's enough. Good night, Draco."

Draco groaned and buried his face into Harry's shoulder. "Teaser." He growled.

Harry grinned and detangled his fingers from Draco's hair.

Draco sighed and lifted his head again, looking into glittering green eyes. "For now you will get away with this, but don't think I will forget it." He shook his head, amused. "Good night, love."

Draco got up and walked to his own bed, starting to undress. Harry rolled onto his belly again and looked at the picture of his mum. Smiling he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the picture.

"Good Night, mum."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Just a few of the characters are mine. You will know which one.  
  
Warnings: This story contains slash, means boy/boy love. So, don't like don't read.  
  
A/N: I'm really sorry. Please believe me. I never wanted to let you wait so long for the next chapter. I don't even have a good apologize. This whole summer was cursed for me and then this and that happened...sigh...at just haven't found the time. I'm sorry.  
  
To let you know how sorry I am: I have written a little short story for you. Read it if you want to.  
  
And I'm so happy about every review I received from you. Now I have 225. I can't believe it. Thank you. I love you all.  
  
Now something different. As always: at the end of the story there are new questions for you to answer.  
  
The important question from last time is answered like this:  
  
THERE WILL BE NO MALEPREGNACY IN THIS STORY.  
  
I looked at every review and even when there were a lot who wanted it I decided against it. I don't want to loose any reader. So, those who were against it, don't worry. There will be no MPreg. But you have to live with it-or not-that the possibility of a male pregnancy will be mentioned. And one time in the next chapter Draco will talk about the possibility that Harry can get pregnant because of the bond, but it will not happen. Don't worry.  
  
For all those who wanted MPreg: I'm thinking about making a sequel.  
  
But now enough talk. Here is the story. Have fun.  
  
Thanks to my reader prettypixie. You will know why.  
  
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Chapter 11: Friend or Foe: Returning of old friends  
  
His feet made no sound on the thick carpet as he sneaked across the dark room. The only sounds came from the sleeping person on the second bed, light breathing.  
  
Harry stopped as he reached the bed and looked down at Draco's figure. The blond Slytherin had pushed his blanket half down his body, exposing his naked body to the waist. No matter how Harry had begged him to put on his pyjama, Draco still insisted on sleeping naked. And in two weeks Harry had get used to it-nearly.  
  
As he now looked at the exposed pale skin, Harry felt the familiar blush rose again. But this time he didn't look away.  
  
Carefully, to not move the bed to much, Harry sat down on the mattress, his gaze lingering on Draco. His eyes wandered over his face, relaxed in sleep, some fringes hanging down onto the brow.  
  
//Draco looks so peaceful in his sleep.// Harry thought and before he could stop himself he lifted a hand and brushed the fringes away, his fingers marvelling in the softness of the blond hair a moment longer.  
  
"What am I doing here?" Harry found himself whispering. Astonished he watched his own finger sweeping down Draco's face featherlike, over the elegant nose and the soft curve of the mouth that he had tasted so much already and down the neck over the slightly rounded chin.  
  
On the neck his hand came to a rest, laying flat on the skin so that he felt the soothing pounding of his pulse under the skin.  
  
Harry's own pulse was running like mad, he could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears so loud, that he was sure that Draco would wake up from it. And he didn't know why.  
  
Harry raised his head and looked across the room to his own abandoned bed. He so wished to sleep, but he couldn't. After the good night kiss he had given Draco, he had thought that he could sleep peacefully until the morning. But sleep hadn't come to him. For hours he had tossed and turned in his bed, his head full of questions he couldn't erase.  
  
"I can't sleep with all the answers I need."  
  
Harry looked back down at Draco. His hand had found a place on his chest, over his heart, even when Harry couldn't remember how he had moved it. Now Draco's heartbeat pounded against the palm of his hand, a steady, soothing rhythm.  
  
A sudden urge overcame Harry, an urge he didn't want to fight against. Not this time. Slowly and carefully he shifted, bowing down until his head lay on Draco's chest, beside his hand. Shortly he flinched at the feeling of Draco's warm skin against his own, but then he relaxed. Draco's heartbeat sounded loudly in his ear, soothing him. Harry sighed and closed his eyes, breathing in the soft herb scent from the skin beneath him. Draco's warmness was so much better than a blanket and even with Draco's arms not around him, Harry felt the safeness he always felt when the Slytherin hugged him.  
  
"I think I could easily fall asleep here." Harry murmured. He turned his head to look at Draco's face again-and was greeted with a pair of soft silver eyes looking back at him.  
  
Harry winced and tried to jump up, but strong arms caught him before he even managed to straighten, and pulled him back against Draco's chest.  
  
Harry sighed and relaxed. "How long are you awake?"  
  
Draco smiled and raised a hand to weave it through Harry's raven black hair. "I woke up the moment you touched me." A smirk appeared on Draco lips and he winked. "I will always wake up when you touch me, because it could mean that you want to have a little fun."  
  
Harry blushed. When he had touched him?  
  
"Don't be embarrassed." Draco whispered. "Your touch is very soft and I don't mind being touched by you."  
  
Harry closed his eyes, saying nothing. He wouldn't tell Draco that he, too, had enjoyed touching the pale body of the Slytherin. Not when he wasn't sure why he had enjoyed it so much. This couldn't just be the awkward teenagers' hormones. Harry never had felt the urge to touch a boy in this way, he had been absolutely sure that he wasn't after boys at all. Wouldn't he have felt something for Ron if he were?  
  
Harry frowned. And what about his feelings for Cho? When he was honest to himself he had to admit, that he hadn't thought much about the Ravenclaw seeker the last few weeks. Did that mean that he wasn't in love with her after all?  
  
What about his feelings in fourth year? Every time he had seen her his heart had started to run wild in his chest and he hadn't been able to voice a single word. That was love, wasn't it?  
  
Harry pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at Draco, eyebrows knitted together in thought. Draco returned his gaze questiongly, but he ignored it. He was busy comparing his feelings for Cho with the ones for the Slytherin, the ones he didn't understand.  
  
Slowly he lifted a hand and touched Draco's cheek. The skin was soft and warm under his fingertips. And warm where the silver eyes, watching Harry with a tenderness in them that caused his heart to stumble a bit as he saw it. Had there ever been a person in his life who had looked at him in this way?  
  
He sighed. "Why isn't there a book about feelings and what they mean. I'm sure I am the only boy in the whole world, muggle or wizard, who has no idea about the whole love thing."  
  
Draco chuckled-and with a swift motion rolled Harry around until he lay on top of the shorter boy.  
  
Harry flushed at the feeling of Draco's weight pressing him down onto the mattress.  
  
"I can assure you, you're not the only one with this problem." Draco nearly purred. "If you believe me or not, I had the same problems as I discovered that my hate for had been replaced by another feeling, which I couldn't explain first. But I must admit that I had my mother to help me sort it out."  
  
"When did you discover that you love me?" Harry whispered, caught in the beautiful silver eyes above him.  
  
Draco smiled. "It was not love at first sight as you know-I hated you like you hated me-and it didn't hit me like a bolt. It came slowly on silent feet and finally, in the middle of the fourth year, I found that I had feelings for my rival, totally opposite from hate. First I tried to ignore it and teased and insulted you and your friends even more, but that didn't work." The blond chuckled at the memory. "I even can tell you the exact day where I found out about my feelings. It was on the Ball before Christmas. As I saw you I knew it suddenly. You looked so beautiful and I needed all my self-control not to grab you and kiss you in front of all people."  
  
The smile was replaced by an almost dreamy expression. "So I decided to make you mine. Of course, it took a bit to convince my father to allow me using the old Malfoy bond on you. But after what happened in summer..."  
  
Draco's voice faltered and died. Harry stared up at him, at his eyes which now bore a faraway look, as if he looked at someone or something else. Harry wondered what had happened in summer that Lucius Malfoy had changed his mind about his only sons wish to bond with Harry.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
Draco blinked as Harry touched his cheek.  
  
"Draco, what happened in summer?" Harry whispered, letting his hand linger on the soft cheek. "What did Voldemort do to you and your family that you now want to fight against him? Why.."  
  
Draco shook his head. Steadying himself on one elbow, he reached up and captured Harry's hand in his. "That are questions I can't answer you, yet. But only because I want to protect you. I always want to protect you."  
  
Harry let out a deep sigh. He looked at his hand entwined with Draco's, lying beside his head on the pillow. "You cannot protect me from everything. I need to do this myself. But when you don't want to tell me more about last summer, tell me at least more about the bond. I have the feeling your parents didn't tell me everything."  
  
Chuckling Draco rolled onto his back, down from Harry. Harry felt a strange feeling of lost without the warm body of the blond Slytherin, but he pushed the thought away and shifted onto his side to look at Draco's face. He didn't want to think about his feelings, when he finally got a few more answers.  
  
"It's typical for a Malfoy not to tell the whole truth. I think that's part of being a Malfoy. We are born with it it seems. But you're right. What you know is not all. So tell me what you know so that I can see if you understand everything."  
  
Harry frowned slightly. He thought back to the day before, when Narcissa Malfoy had told him about the bond.  
  
"The bond can't be removed. You're able to sense where I am and what I feel and I can learn that, too. Because of the bond, we share what your father called natural protection against magic."  
  
Harry lowered his hand with whom he had counted his knowledge about the bond. "That's all. Is there much more to come?"  
  
"No." Draco shook his head. "Not much. There is just one more thing."  
  
Draco turned on his side, facing Harry. He slung an arm around Harry's waist and pulled him closer until they were touching from chest to foot. "First, I must confess that I lied to you. I said that the bond will (would) vanish when I die, but that isn't right. It will never vanish, and when I die you will die, too. When I die you die, when you die I will die. We are connected for eternity."  
  
Harry's green eyes widened. Draco felt his body stiffen and tightened his grip to prevent him from backing away from him. "I know, I had to tell you this earlier, but I.."  
  
A soft hand gently being placed over his mouth stopped him from saying more.  
  
"You're an idiot, Draco Malfoy. Why did you do such a stupid thing? You know that I must fight Voldemort and the chance for me to win against him isn't very good. Why do you want such a short life?"  
  
Harry withdrew his hand. His palm tingled slightly from the warmth of Draco's lips.  
  
"I wanted you. I didn't think. And about your fight against Voldemort," Draco shook his head, "remember that you aren't alone, Harry. There are lots of people who will fight against the Dark Lord; it's not alone your duty."  
  
With a sigh Harry sat up. "Sometimes it feels like the whole world is lying on my shoulders. And you know that there are many people who expect me to repeat the wonder I performed years ago when I was just a child. Of course, this was before last school year." Harry drew up his legs and placed his arms around his knees. "Now everybody thinks I'm the bad guy."  
  
Draco looked at the huddled figure of the boy he loved. He looked so lost and far away, even when he was just sitting inches from him.  
  
"Harry.."  
  
Draco sat up and again slung his arms around Harry. He loved it to feel him so near.  
  
"Don't think about those people. They are not important." He whispered in his ear. A shudder ran through Harry's body as he nipped slightly on his earlope and Draco grinned.  
  
Slowly and carefully he pushed Harry down until he lay on his back. Harry blinked up at him.  
  
"Just think about us." Draco continued, his eyes locked with Harry's as he hovered over him, his body just inches from the boy under him.  
  
Harry felt a tingling feeling in his stomach and he swallowed. "Is there an us?" He croaked, biting his bottom lip to hold down a moan, as Draco shortly pressed down on him. How they had landed by this again, he wondered.  
  
"Can't there be?" Draco answered, letting go of Harry's gaze to place a lingering kiss on the tender skin of his neck. He smiled as Harry drew in a sharp breath and redoubled his effort.  
  
This time Harry couldn't hold back a moan as he felt Draco's tongue and teeth nipping at his skin, and he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it. How could this feel so good?  
  
"Damn." Harry moaned again and unconsciously pushed against Draco's body above him.  
  
Draco smiled satisfied and licked a last time at the hickey on the slightly tanned skin.  
  
"There, another mark, Harry."  
  
Harry scowled at him. "Don't you think one is enough?"  
  
"Um, no?"  
  
"Draco!" Harry yelped as Draco placed another bite on his neck, hard enough to leave another hickey, inches from the other.  
  
Grinning Draco looked into Harry's narrowed eyes, aware of the pleasure Harry felt. It was like a pleasantly warm stream, joining with his own.  
  
"So, can't there be an us?" He repeated, slipping his hand under Harry's pyjama to feel the soft skin of his belly. He smirked as Harry sucked in his stomach in surprise at the touch. "Answer me, Harry."  
  
Harry felt his face heated up under Draco's intense gaze. He swallowed. "Maybe." He answered whispering. "But it depends on you. I can't be with someone I don't trust completely and I can't trust you..."  
  
"..until I tell you everything." Draco ended the sentence. He sighed, all energy gone and Harry gasped as he lay down on him, his body covering his own, burying his face in the pillow beside his head.  
  
"I know you will not tell me." Harry said, hesitantly placing his arms around Draco. The weight of the Slytherin made it difficult to breathe, but at the same time it felt so good. He felt Draco's heartbeat against his own, just separated from the layers of skin and flesh.  
  
"I will tell you." Draco interrupted him, his voice muffled by the pillow.  
  
"I will tell you who the hooded stranger is and what I have to do with him. His name is...Aaron. Aaron Malfoy. And he is my older brother."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Lazily the hooded man strolled through the hall, ignoring the whispering from the other people lined up at the cold, naked stonewalls. The only decoration was a green carpet in the middle of the ground, leading from the two-leafed oak door to the other side of the hall.  
  
It amused him that nobody except him was using the carpet. All avoided stepping on it. And all where looking at him with hidden astonishment and jealousy that he had the courage-or stupidity-to walk on it to their master.  
  
He smirked and lifted his gaze to the man, sitting on a stone seat at the back wall. He didn't look different from the last time he had seen him, all those years ago.  
  
The black hair, the handsome face, the slightly muscular body under that black robe, the large but slender hands that gripped the armrests tightly.  
  
The stranger's grin widened. The only difference this time-now he, himself, was no child anymore. He was an adult now and had learned many things.  
  
Red eyes, blazing with anger, rose from the shivering figure on the ground before him as he reached the stone seat that looked more like a throne.  
  
"What do you find so amusing, Aaron?" Voldemort growled, his voice sounding through the hall.  
  
Aaron smirked and closed the last distance to the Dark Lord with a few elegant movements, making sure that everybody could see the slender body under his robe. He felt slight triumph as he saw the red eyes shifting to his body, especially to his hips. The lust in those eyes was easy to read.  
  
Yes, this time he would control the game.  
  
"I'm amused because of you, my Lord." Brushing Voldemorts leg with his Aaron sat down on one armrest. "I could sense your anger even outside the door. What caused it?"  
  
Voldemort let out a disgusted snort and pointed at the man crouching before his feet. Aaron avoided looking at him. He knew who it was. Peter Pettigrew, the man who had brought the Dark Lord back to live. And the man who had betrayed the Potter's 15 years ago.  
  
For Aaron there was no one who was as disgusting as the little man who had spend half of his life living from other people's pity. All he could was betraying (all he could do was betray) and Aaron was sure that he would betray his master when it was for his own good.  
  
"And what did Wormtail do now?" "I send him to Hogwarts to bring an offer to the mudblood loving Headmaster. Not that I would have kept what I offered in it, I just wanted Wormtail to bring a message to my spy there. But do you know what information Wormtail brought back to me?"  
  
Aaron looked into the red eyes before him, keeping his calmness, even when a laugh was fighting its way out of him. It wouldn't be a good idea to laugh into the Dark Lord's face.  
  
"What?"  
  
Voldemort's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I think you now what I mean. And I know that you had this information before Wormtail."  
  
"When you mean the thing with the bond, yes I knew it before your servant." Aaron ignored the dark look shooted his way. "And I knew it before him, because I paid my little brother a visit in his rooms. There I saw it with my own eyes. The old Malfoy bond on your long time nemesis, Harry Potter."  
  
New whispers broke out in the hall. All had heard at least one time from the Bond the Malfoy's placed on their mates.  
  
"My little brother Draco has matured very much in the summer since my parents left your side." Aaron continued, smirking. He reached up and pulled his hood back, revealing his light blond hair falling loose onto his shoulders. "In fact, he comes after me, I would say. But his bonded isn't that bad either. I wouldn't push him from my bed, in fact I would love it (love to)to show him some moves."  
  
Voldemort growled, hate emanating from him like a wave. "Do what you want to him; I just want to see him dead in the end. And I want to see your family dead, all of them. They betrayed me and nobody betrays Lord Voldemort off unpunished."  
  
Aaron smirked and leaned back. He couldn't care less what Voldemort did with his family, but now with the permission of the Dark Lord, he could have a little fun with his brother's mate.  
  
He looked down at his hands clad in the black leather gloves and all amusement vanished out of his silver eyes.  
  
Even with this protection, he could feel the pain wanting to break out.  
  
"For this you will pay, my dear brother." Aaron hissed.  
  
A pair of hands gripped him tightly around his upper arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. He grinned as he looked up and met red eyes, filled with lust and skilfully he climbed into Voldemort's lap, facing him.  
  
"What do you wish?" He purred, placing his arms around the neck of the older man and grounding his hip onto Voldemort's under him. He smiled as his answer was a low growl and hands tearing at his clothes.  
  
Yes, now he was the master of their little game.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Harry laid (lay) petrified, his arms around Draco's body. Draco's words still echoed in his ears, but he couldn't believe what he had heard.  
  
"What?" He croaked.  
  
Draco sighed and pushed himself up and away from Harry. "The name of the hooded stranger his Aaron Malfoy," he repeated, "and he is my older brother."  
  
Harry blinked. His brother? But that couldn't be.  
  
"Why do you suddenly have a brother? All are sure that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy just have one son."  
  
Draco sneered lightly and looked down on Harry, his silver eyes dark. "All are wrong. I should know it, shouldn't I? I have a brother. He is six years older than me and he wasn't here in Hogwarts, that is why nobody except the some teachers know from (know of him) him. My father send (sent) him to Durmstrang."  
  
The dark eyes shifted away and Harry was glad for it. He didn't like seeing this hate in Draco.  
  
Slowly he sat up. Draco was looking at something only he could see.  
  
"What happened between your brother and you?" Harry asked after a few moments, where they just sat in silence. "You hate him, but why? He is your brother."  
  
"Having a brother doesn't mean that he will never do something that hurt you, Harry." Draco answered murmuring, still not looking at Harry.  
  
Harry felt a shiver run down his body, as he heard the coldness in his voice. It was the voice Draco always had used to speak with him, four years long, and it strangely hurt to hear it again.  
  
"My brother did something that hurt not just me, but my whole family. But before I tell you what he did you must promise me something, Harry. Promise me that you will never tell anyone what you will hear now."  
  
Harry stared at Draco. The blond Slytherin still was sitting with half his back to Harry, gazing into the darkness of the room. For the first time since he had met him again, Draco wasn't looking at him while he spoke, were the silver eyes not to see.  
  
Harry hesitated, but then he reached one hand out and gently forced Draco's head around.  
  
Silver eyes widened in astonishment as soft lips covered his own in a short kiss.  
  
"I promise I won't tell any one." Harry whispered with his lips tingling. "Not even my friends and you know: Gryffindor's always stand by their words."  
  
Draco sighed. "That's right."  
  
He drew in a deep breath and finally turned to look at Harry. "Aaron was born just a few months after my parents finished Hogwarts and married. Father was really proud. He had just joined Voldemort as a Death Eater and already had the wished heir for the Malfoy family." Draco's mouth turned to a lopsided grin. "I think I'm the first to say that I have been spoiled all my life, but Aaron had been spoiled more than me. Everything he wanted my parents got him and I mean everything. And then, on his sixth birthday- mother had been pregnant with me-Aaron met Voldemort for the first time."  
  
The grin vanished out of Draco's face, leaving his eyes bare of any emotion as he looked past Harry. "Even Father doesn't know what exactly happened between those two. They were alone in his room, Voldemort demanded it. But after it Voldemort took Aaron with him as he left Malfoy Manor and Aaron went on his own free will with the Dark Lord."  
  
He shook his head, blond strands dancing around his face. "As you can imagine my parents were shocked. They wanted Aaron back with them, but it was their own son that refused to come with them. And as Father tried to get him back by force, Voldemort cursed him so that he had to lie in the hospital for days."  
  
"Voldemort took their child and nevertheless your parents stayed with him?" Harry asked confused.  
  
Draco nodded and his eyes found Harry's again. "Father told me that he had feared Voldemort would take me, too, when they would betray him and after all, he didn't know why Aaron decided to stay with the Dark Lord. So he continued being the loyal Death Eater. The next part of the story you know. Over a year after my birth-and Aaron's decision-the Voldemort visited your parents," Draco lifted a hand and touched Harry's scar gently, "and something in you caused the deadly spell to reflect back to the one who spoke it." (I would go over this paragraph carefully)  
  
Harry swallowed. "Professor Dumbledore explained that it was my mother's sacrefy that saved me." He croaked, for the first time telling someone what it had been, that had saved him all those years ago.  
  
"Old magic. Sometimes old magic is stronger than every spell. The bond is old magic, too. Well," Draco withdrew his hand from Harry, "after the first panic had settled my father went to Voldemort's hideout and gathered Aaron. He was fine and well, but full of anger and hate that the Dark Lord was gone. He was even more upset than any other Death Eater and as he grew up, these feelings didn't vanish. In fact, they seem to grow with every year that passed. My parents didn't recognize him, he wasn't their little boy any more and because mother couldn't stand seeing this change in him, father sends him to Durmstrang, instead of Hogwarts. And he made me his heir, until Aaron would tell him what happened between him and Voldemort."  
  
"What a (kind of) brother was he?" Harry asked.  
  
Draco shook his head. "I didn't know him that well. Mother kept him away from me and because of that I can't say if he was a good brother or not or that I had been that sad as he went. I just can say that I felt a bit uneasy the short times when I was with him. But, let me continue. In the following years I didn't see that much of my older brother. Even in summer he stayed at Durmstrang and just father, and sometimes mother, went to visit him. And after he finished school he went on a lot of journeys. Few even know that he lives and because of that so many think that I'm Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's only son."  
  
Draco's narrowed the silver hard. "But I'm not. However, Aaron didn't let himself see (be seen) often in the Malfoy Manor the next couple of years. In fact I just saw him at two times. First in the Christmas holidays in my second year and then last summer. He was the one who told Father to come to Voldemort with me and mother." Draco gazed at Harry thoughtfully. "You do remember that I told you in the train how we visited Voldemort, don't you? Well, we went there because we got a message from Aaron to meet us there."  
  
He shook his head angrily. "To make it short, as were there Aaron sat on the armrest of Voldemort's stone throne, a welcoming grin on his face, but with cold calculating eyes. And before we could say anything he spoke." Draco let out a loud growl. "He demanded that father made (make) him the heir again. But not only that. He, too, wanted all of the Malfoy fortune and that he would be the new head of the house. First I couldn't believe what he was saying, he was my brother after all, but he meant it and he proofed it with every following word. He wanted everything that was my fathers."  
  
And to get this he had to get rid of Lucius."  
  
Harry's eyes widened. Did Draco mean what he thought? Get rid of Lucius Malfoy..  
  
"I know what you think now, Harry." Draco grinned, but it was a hard grin. "And you're right. To get all that was my fathers it was Aaron's wish to kill my-and his-father, than just with his death everything would go over to the heir. And before even one of us could react, Aaron pointed his wand at my father and threw nothing else than the deadliest spell at him."  
  
"Avada Kedavra." Harry whispered. The sick glowing of the spell came to his mind that he had just seen a few weeks ago as Cedric had died.  
  
But...he had seen Lucius Malfoy.  
  
How had he survived?  
  
"Father just survived because of my mother." Draco continued with a lower voice, as if he had read Harry's thoughts. "Father and I stood stock still with shock, but she yelled a curse at the spell, causing it to explode, just a few feet before it reached her husband. And Aaron just laughed, still sitting beside Voldemort, who just sat there, watching everything with his cold red eyes."  
  
Draco's hands clenched to fists. "Aaron laughed and the man who my father had worked for half of his life just watched. Father couldn't move, he was shocked and again Aaron pointed his wand, but this time at my mother, who stood beside him, her eyes glowing with a hate that I never had seen. And somehow I felt that she wouldn't survive this, that the next spell would kill her. And with a fear to loose her and a hate I never had felt in my life before, I yelled a curse at my brother, a flame curse." His voice died to a whisper. "He wasn't expecting this from me and so he hadn't a chance to save himself. The spell hit him and in seconds he stood in flames."  
  
With a sigh Draco fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I really don't know what happened next. In one moment I heard the screams of my brother and the next I was in Malfoy Manor, crying in the arms of my mother, while father was busy to strengthen the wards and spells around the Manor."  
  
Harry stared speechless at Draco. He felt his heart beating against his chest like crazy, because of fear, because of shock. This story was horrible. Somehow he wished he hadn't asked about what had happened last summer, who the hooded stranger was. Then he wouldn't have heard what Draco had gone through.  
  
And he had thought he had had a bad summer, with his scar hurting him.  
  
But this was...  
  
"Don't pity me, Harry."  
  
"What?" Harry blushed as he noticed Draco's eyes on him. "I don't pity you. I just didn't think that you could have such a bad experience. Your own brother trying to kill your father."  
  
Draco shook his head and shifted until he lay beside Harry. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's waist and gently tugged him to lie down. "Nobody can change what happened. First I had been shocked about what I had done to my own brother, but it didn't last long. When I wouldn't have done it he would have killed my parents and me. I couldn't let it happen. I've done the right thing. And even when I will have doubts about my doings someday," Draco buried his face into Harry's neck, "now I have you and as long as I have you, my doubts will never change into something that could bring me to suicide otherwise."  
  
Harry felt his throat becoming dry. He heard Draco's words repeating in his head, over and over, even when the shallow breathing of the blond showed him that he had fallen asleep.  
  
But Harry couldn't sleep. Slowly a terrifying picture started to appear in his head. The picture of Draco, laying on the ground in his the blood oozing out of the deep cuts in his wrists, dead silver eyes staring up at something only he could see.  
  
Trembling Harry threw his arms around Draco beside him, holding onto him like to make sure that he was there. In his head Harry knew that Draco had captured him successfully with his last words that he wouldn't commit suicide as long Harry was with him, had known that he wouldn't leave him from fear to be guilty that someone would have died because of him. Like Cedric.  
  
And in his head Harry was angry at Draco.  
  
But his heart clenched painfully whenever the picture of the dead Draco came to his mind. He feared a world without the blond Slytherin.  
  
Harry frowned, breathing in the herby scent of the sleeping Malfoy heir, while he felt his eyes closing in exhausting.  
  
The fear of loosing someone.  
  
Was this love?  
  
Then the comforting darkness of sleep captured him and he knew nothing any more as he surrendered to sleep.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Skilfully Aaron slipped out of Voldemort's arms. It was real work to escape the strong, nearly painfully grip of the Dark Lord, even when he was asleep. But Aaron had years of experience. And no intention to stay longer than needed in a bed with the older man, pressed against his naked body.  
  
Streaks of Pain shoot through his body as he sat up. He ignored it. He was used to pain. And the pain caused from the brutal lovemaking with Voldemort was nothing against the pain that threaten to break out when he wasn't careful.  
  
Knowing his way even in the darkness around him Aaron walked through the room, not bothering to look back at the sleeping Leader of all Death Eaters. He would see him soon enough again. But he did look at the books and other things scattered around the room-magical things from animal bones over potions in every colour to some mirrors standing or hanging on the wall. Voldemort was searching for every kind of magical things throughout the world and his room was one place where he gathered it all.  
  
After awhile Aaron found what he was searching for.  
  
A little vial, filled with dark purple liquid. The only thing to ease his pain made for him by Voldemort himself.  
  
Not caring about the burning after taste Aaron swallowed the potion in one go-and let out a content sigh as immediately the pain started to ebb away. And even without looking he knew that now the scars would vanish from his body, leaving the pale skin perfect in its softness.  
  
Aaron sighed satisfied and threw the empty vial over his shoulder, where it burst to pieces on the cold stone floor. He didn't care. One of the filthy house elves would clean it up.  
  
He turned around. In his movement he saw his own reflection in the mirrors and he grinned. He was so perfect and beautiful. Slowly he let one of his hands glide down his chest and stomach, marvelling in the perfect build muscles. A moan escaped his throat as his hand reached his manhood.  
  
Closing his eyes he wrapped his hand around it, gently starting to move it up and down, stimulating it. More moans escaped his mouth and he sped up the movements. This was better than every shag with Voldemort.  
  
Behind his closed eyes the picture of the raven haired boy-Harry Potter- came to his mind and he imagined pushing into the lean body of his brothers bonded, imagined how the boy would scream in pain and passion with every hard push into his tight entrance.  
  
With a last loud moan Aaron came, his cum shooting out on the ground from his stiff member.  
  
"What a waste." A deep voice murmured from behind him, hot breath tingling his neck.  
  
Aaron stiffened shortly, but then he grinned and turned around. There was just one person with an accent so hoorible. And just one person who could sneak up on him without him noticing.  
  
And just one person he wouldn't kill because of it.  
  
"I didn't know you are back."  
  
The man returned the grin, his brown eyes twinkling with mirth. They danced over the nakedness of the blond before him. "I just came back. I have a message for our Lord, that's why I'm here. But I see," in a swift motion the eyes shifted to the still sleeping figure on the bed, "that he is asleep. Exhausted."  
  
It isn't a question.  
  
Aaron smirked. His own silver eyes rowed over the man before him, the only man he considered near a friend. He had earned his trust after many tries from Aaron to seduce him. But he had reclined and there he was the only one.  
  
Reaching the broad shoulders he noticed that the travel robe he wore was wet, but not from just rain. A little white lump on the right shoulder was telling the real cause of the drenched appearance.  
  
Snow.  
  
"Where have you been to get wet by this?" He asked curiously, swatting the snow away from the cloth. He tried to sense a fragment of thought from the man. Where had Voldemort send him to?  
  
The man smiled, ignoring- and blocking- his tries to read his mind and only shook his head, causing some drenched strands of brown hair to fly around his young face. He looked down at the melting snow lump.  
  
"You know I can't tell you. Not first. You can listen when I tell it to our Lord. He will let you stay after all when I make my report. But I've heard you've visited your little brother." The man continued curiosity now in his eyes. He knew after all what had happened between Aaron and his family. "How was the meeting after all this weeks?"  
  
Aaron laughed. "Oh, it was quite amusing. Little Draco found himself a little mate and it is no other than the Boy-who-lived."  
  
For the first time since Aaron knew him, surprise appeared on the face of the man. He grinned.  
  
"Let me tell you more." He said, taking one arm and dragging him out of the bedroom. Maybe he could tingle some information out of him after all.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Harry Potter always was used to wake up early, to avoid any yelling from his Aunt Petunia or his Uncle Vernon if he would oversleep. But this time he woke up from the distant feeling of something warm lying on the naked skin of his belly. Warm and soft. And a little heavy. Not much, just so much like one of his middle thick school book would weigh.  
  
Harry frowned with his eyes still closed. Dizzy he fought his way out of his sleepiness. Why would a book lay on him? And after all. A book wasn't warm, was it?  
  
Maybe he just should open his eyes. Then he would see what it was. But he was so tired. Sleep was still calling to him. What was speaking against the thought of just falling to sleep again. Just a few minutes more.  
  
As the warmness started to move all thoughts of sleep vanished from Harry. He tore his eyes open -and stared into little black eyes just inches away from his face.  
  
\\ Morning, Harry Potter.\\ The snake hissed, ignoring the flinch that jolted the body of the boy under her.  
  
Confused Harry stared at the snake. Was he dreaming?  
  
That was the Black Adder he had seen in the cage before the shop in Diagon Alley. It was the same. He recognized the voice. But what was the Adder doing here, in Hogwarts, in his room, on his naked chest.  
  
Stop. Naked chest?  
  
Slowly Harry shifted his eyes down his body. His pyjama shirt was completely gone. He could feel the softness of the satin covers on his back and arms.  
  
A furious blush heated his face the moment Harry's eyes reached the end of his figure and met the amused silver eyes of Draco Malfoy. He sat on the end of the bed, gladly already clad in his school uniform and robe.  
  
"Finally awake, sleepy head?" The blond purred.  
  
Harry could feel the heat spreading out on his face. He really should learn to have this under control. He couldn't blush every time Draco spoke to him with this sexy tone in his voice.  
  
Harry groaned. No, not thinking about that.  
  
"Morning." He mumbled, to both the snake and the boy. Then he moved his full attention to the snake. "Why are you here?"  
  
The Adder opened her mouth wide, showing her white fangs. Harry suspected that it was her way to grin. \\ Your mate broughht me hhere. He found me laying on thhe ground in my caggge, whhere thhe explosssion had sssend me flying to, and gggave the man who caugghht me money.\\  
  
Astonished Harry looked up at Draco. "You bought the snake? Why?"  
  
Draco just shrugged. "I thought it would be a nice present for you. After all; when you can speak parsel, you should have a chance to use it. And this little fellow here," Draco bowed forward and carefully touched the black body of the Adder, "can protect you when I'm not with you."  
  
"I don't need protection. I managed to protect myself since I'm young." Harry shook his head and slowly sat up, giving the snake the chance to slip down from his body. So now he had a snake. Just like Voldemort. "The last days I felt like a wimp when ever I had been with you, like somebody who can't protect himself. But I'm not."  
  
Draco eyed him sceptical as Harry stood up from the bed. "You feel like a wimp just because you didn't fight enough against me and my doing with the bond? How did you want to react otherwise? Ignoring it? Fight against me with fists and wand, throwing spells and curses at me?"  
  
"I don't know. But all will want me to react this way. They will expect it. After all, we were rivals for over four years and suddenly we are.friends when they return to Hogwarts. You have to admit that it sounds really unbelievable."  
  
Harry's thoughts went to two special people. Ron and Hermione. He could just suspect how they would react.  
  
Groaning under his breath Harry went to the bathroom. He needed a shower. Maybe he could even drown in the tub, so that he mustn't see the faces of his friends when they heard that he was engaged to no other than the Slytherin Ice Prince.  
  
"I can give you the chance to tell it to you friends alone and when you want." Draco said behind him. Harry turned and saw him leaning against the door-case. And to his astonishment the Adder hung around his neck, eyeing him with glittering black eyes.  
  
\\ Why ssshouldn't I? \\ The snake hissed, sensing his surprise. \\ He iss your mate.\\  
  
Harry flushed. "Why do you think that?"  
  
\\ He hass your sssmell on him. And you have hisss ssmell on you. That meansss you mussst be hisss mate.\\  
  
Draco grinned as Harry's face flushed a bright red. "What did you two talk about?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Yeah, sure. Well, what do you think from my suggestion?"  
  
Harry turned away from the Slytherin. A chance to tell his friends alone and when he wanted to. That really sounds good in his ears.  
  
"How much time do you give me?" He asked, turning on the water in the shower. "Just today or-"  
  
"How about four days? I think this is time enough." Warm hands sneaked around Harry's waist, pulling him back against Draco's body.  
  
Harry sighed and leaned back in the embrace, enjoying the feeling of security it caused. Who would have thought that he would find it in the arms of a Slytherin.  
  
"For four days I will leave you alone." Draco whispered in his ear. "It will be hard not to be able to touch you, but I give you this chance to speak with your little Gryffindor fellows. But remember-when the days-at the morning of the fifth day- are over I will come back to you, if you have told them or not. Okay?"  
  
Harry nodded and absentmindly caressed the lean body of the Adder which had used the closeness of the two boys to move onto his neck and shoulder. Four days should be enough for him. But how should he explain to Ron and Hermione what had happened. And-a faint blush spread out over Harry's cheeks-how should he explain that he didn't detest kissing Draco.  
  
He didn't understand it himself. Not completely. He just knew that kissing Draco was..wonderful, sweet..He wasn't able to describe the feelings he had when kissing the Slytherin.  
  
Draco stepped back from him, causing Harry to stumble slightly from the sudden absence of his body.  
  
"You wanted to take a shower, didn't you?" Draco smirked as Harry threw him a puzzled look. "Go on, I will watch over your new little friend."  
  
He reached out an arm and without hesitation the Adder wound herself up his arm. "Hurry or we miss breakfast."  
  
Harry watched Draco leave the bathroom, before he turned to the shower. Draco had given him the chance to take his shower alone, without him trying to see him naked.  
  
Blushing Harry stepped under the comforting warm water. Draco was showing him his naked body nearly every morning, but he respected Harry's privacy.  
  
Sighing Harry hurried with the shower. He, too, was getting hungry. As he stepped out of the shower he found a complete garment of clothes lying on the desk beside the wash-basin. Draco must have come into the bathroom, again saving him from the embarrassment to leave the bath with just a towel around the waist.  
  
Draco smiled at him once he left the bathroom, sitting on one of the beds with the snake around the neck.  
  
"Ready?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Thanks for the clothes."  
  
Draco smirked and standing up he advanced on Harry, placing both arms around his waist. "No problem. I wanted to save you from fainting from embarrassment and me from pouncing on you if you had to walk just with a towel on you body before my eyes. But something else." He continued, his silver eyes glowing with mirth as Harry turned away his face. "Before we go to breakfast-or last for four days-I would like to know if you have come up for a name for the snake I gave you. She can't stay nameless."  
  
//Somehow I spending more time with Draco's arms around me than standing alone.// Harry thought, looking at the Adder, which returned his look with her black ones.  
  
A name.  
  
"Do you have a name?" He asked her.  
  
\\ No. Namess are jussst for humansss. But you can give me one if you like.\\  
  
Harry shifted his eyes over her black and tan body, slung around Draco's pale neck. She really was beautiful. Surely she deserved a beautiful name. But which one?  
  
He never had been good in giving names. He never had to. Never in his life at the Dursley's had he had a pet or any other thing that should be named- not even a Teddy. Hedwig was the first one he had given a name to.  
  
And now to name a snake.  
  
Uncertainly Harry bit his lip. This was more difficult he had thought it could be.  
  
Suddenly a name came to his mind, from one moment to the other.  
  
"What about this?" Harry called out. "Azula."  
  
Draco raised one fine blond eyebrow. "Azula." He rolled the name on his tongue and listened to the sound of it. Then he smiled. "I like it. It sounds nice."  
  
Harry grinned relieved. He didn't know where the name had come from, but he was glad that Draco liked it. Now just the Adder had to agree to it.  
  
\\ Azzzula?\\ The snake hissed, as Harry told her. Her slender tongue slipped out of her mouth. \\ I thhink I like it.\\  
  
Slowly she moved down Draco's shoulder until the first half of her body slung around Harry's neck. Her other half was still around the one of the blond and the more she moved, the more the muscles of her body forced Harry's face closer to Draco's.(When you find a better way to describe this please do)  
  
Harry flushed as he found himself just inches from Draco, the breath of the taller boy tingling his dry lips softly. That he liked kissing Draco didn't mean that he was getting used to do such a thing with his former enemy.  
  
The blond smirked and tightened his hold on Harry. "I think the snake-Azula- has a very good idea. I am more and more proud of myself that I bought her." He whispered, before his lips descended softly on Harry's.  
  
Harry moaned and leaned into the kiss. The softness and tenderness of those lips.  
  
Maybe he could explain after all why he liked kissing Draco.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Around Midday Draco Malfoy found himself in the least place he wanted to be- the office of Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"Ah, Mr Malfoy. Sit down." Dumbledore smiled. "Once you are seated we can begin."  
  
Scowling Draco let his silver eyes sway over the many books and other stuff lined up at the walls or lying in the many shelves, as he sat down on the last free chair standing before the desk. One of five chairs standing in a line before the Headmaster.  
  
The other four were already occupied with boys in his age.  
  
He could really think of more appealing places he now wanted to be then sitting and talking to this old man. For example cuddling and kissing his life partner.  
  
Slightly curious Draco shifted his eyes to the brunette boy sitting beside him, who returned his gaze smiling and with glowing grey eyes. Hadn't he seen him-  
  
"It is a pleasure to see you again." The boy said.  
  
One of Draco's eyebrows rose. Of course.  
  
"You're this boy from Germany Harry and I met in Diagon Alley yesterday, after the explosion. Harald Brandner, wasn't it."  
  
"Yes. It is an honour that you remember me." Harald hand flinched a little as if he wanted to reach out.  
  
Draco sniffed and ignored his motion. As if he forgot a name he just had heard yesterday.  
  
He moved his attention to the other boys, Harald's friends. He didn't get to look at them closely the day before with his worry over Harry's injuries and all. And his father always told him to look at new faces for one could never know if they would be friends or enemies.  
  
The boy beside Harald was sitting completely relaxed in his chair, one leg draped over the other, and his eyes scanning the snoring former headmasters of Hogwarts in their paintings with interest. His red-blond hair was tied back to a ponytail, falling down onto the shoulders and his muggle clothes- Draco sneered seeing them-clung tight to his slight muscular body.  
  
Draco grimaced. He could recognize a playboy when he saw him. But as long as this one kept his hands away from Harry, he could shag every one he wanted in Hogwarts. It wouldn't disturb Draco.  
  
The two other boys beside the redhead were busy staring at the phoenix, sitting on his perch behind Dumbledore, returning their stares with calm dark eyes.  
  
Draco frowned at them. It wasn't very polite to stare at someone like that even when it was just a bird. Not that he would consider a phoenix as just a bird-especially not Fawkes, who he knew had helped Harry a few times in the past.  
  
He returned in checking the two boys out, ignoring the slight cough from Dumbledore.  
  
Both had nearly the same build-not as muscular as the red blond and not as burly as Harald's- more slender, like Harry or himself. They even looked a bit like each other. The same dark blond hair with the same hair-style, very short.  
  
But as they turned around he saw that their eyes were different. One had dark eyes, nearly black and out of the others face, light blue eyes returned his gaze.  
  
"Hello." The one with the blue eyes said, grinning at him. And soon his eyes wandered over Draco's body.  
  
"Boys, may I have your attention for a few moments?"  
  
Everyone looked at the Headmaster.  
  
"Very good." Dumbledore lay his hands together. "Mr Malfoy, I'm sure you are curious why I send for you?" He addressed Draco, who just nodded. "Well, first of all I should tell you who these boys are. The one beside you, you know already I heard. Then comes Mr Alexander Lange", he nodded at the boy with the red-blond hair, "and Mr Christian and Mr Joseph Weiss. They are cousins. And this gentleman before me is Mr Draco Malfoy." He said, introducing Draco.  
  
Draco smirked at the boys as they looked at him curiously. Except this Harald Brandner. His eyes were on him since he had entered the office.  
  
"Well Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore continued, "you received the letter where stood that you are now one of the prefects for your house, haven't you." Draco nodded. That really hadn't been a surprise. Who except from him could be prefect of Slytherin after all.  
  
"These young men are students from the Private German school Loreley, who will stay with us for a year, Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore explained, smiling at every one through his beard. "For them four of our students have gone to Germany, one of each house. From your house it is Mr Blaise Zabini."  
  
Draco scowled. That was new to him. Blaise was the only one he considered a friend in Slytherin. Why hadn't he said anything?  
  
"For that one from every house has gone, every one of these boys will come in a different house. And we come to why I called you here, Mr Malfoy."  
  
Dumbledore placed his hands flat on his desk and looked at Draco with a strange satisfied smile on his lips that at once awoke Draco's mistrust.  
  
"It will be the job of the prefects to look over these boys in the beginning of the year, until they have got used to Hogwarts. And because you are the only prefect already here, I would ask you to show them around until the Hogwarts Express will come in this evening."  
  
Draco had to fight the sudden anger boiling up in him. He had to show these boys around on his last day with Harry?!  
  
"You can take Harry with you when you show them everything." Dumbledore added hurriedly, seeing the anger in the silver eyes. "And I would like to see that you start now. It is already around midday. You can begin with leading them to the Great Hall. Dinner should be ready."  
  
Draco could recognize a dismissal when he heard it. In a bad mood he stood up and marched out of the office without looking if the four germans followed him.  
  
It was no wonder that his father hated this old fool. The more years were going by the more Draco understood his father. And he couldn't understand how Harry could like and follow this man. He was a manipulating fool who loved it to take advantage of every other fool who stood on his site.  
  
Draco was lucky that he didn't belong to this group. He would rather die than follow Dumbledore and he would make sure that Harry saw behind the friendly mask of the Headmaster.  
  
"Say, this Harry, that the Headmaster mentioned-is it Harry Potter?"  
  
Draco flinched at the voice, tearing him out of his thoughts.  
  
The Red-blond haired boy-Alexander-grinned at him, ignoring the anger in the silver eyes. He widened the steps of his long legs until he walked beside the blond Slytherin.  
  
"You know, I would love to meet the famous boy-who-lived. I mean personally. I saw him yesterday in Diagon Alley, but there we all were covered in this dust from the destroyed building and I didn't get a good look at him." His grin widened. "Though what I saw there hitched up my curiosity much more."(I don't think this sounds right. If you can make it better, please do so.) (I think its fine)  
  
Draco's hands clenched to fists and he needed all his self-control to hold himself back from hitting the other boy.  
  
// How dare he looking at ,my' Harry.//  
  
"You know, Harry Potter is very famous, not just here in his homeland, but in every other country, too. And the main reason why I volunteered for coming here to study was the possibility to meet Potter."  
  
Draco swallowed a growl and hurried along the hallway as fast as he could without running. But the German boy stayed by his site.  
  
"Do you know my other reason why I came here?" Alexander asked, winking as Draco threw him a short look. "I came here to test if the boys and girls here in Hogwarts can be compared with the ones in Germany. ,You' know what I'm talking about, don't you?"  
  
Draco stopped dead in his pace as light-green eyes began to scan his body in an approving way.  
  
"Oh, I know what you mean. But I have some news for you." Draco growled, not bothering to hide the distaste and anger in his voice and eyes. The other boy flinched as the look out of hard silver eyes hit him. "You can shag everybody you want in this school, it won't bother me. But don't try your clumsy flirt with me or Harry Potter. He is mine and when I see your hands on him-"  
  
"Draco."  
  
All five boys flinched and turned around in the same moment.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
\\ Thiss really tasstess good.\\  
  
"Thank you. I made it myself."  
  
Harry grinned as he watched the Black Adder and Dobby. Azula had curled her body around a bowl that the houseelf had placed on the table before her and licked at the yellow-white liquid in it with enthusiasm. Harry didn't know what it was, but his new friend liked it obviously.  
  
What he was amazed about, was, that Dobby could understand what the Adder was hissing. He always had thought that only people who spoke parsel could speak with snakes-like himself and Voldemort. But the house elf had informed him, that it was the ability of the houseelfs to speak-or at least understand-every language, for they never knew which master they had to serve.  
  
Harry suspected that it had something to do with their natural ability to do magic.  
  
"Harry Potter, sir?"  
  
Harry looked up-and smiled as he saw Dobby standing before him, a large tablet in his hands that was bigger than him, loaded with delicious looking sandwiches, that caused Harry's stomach to growl loudly with hunger.  
  
Harry blushed. The house elves though smiled brightly and hurried around the kitchen to prepare more food.  
  
Before Dobby could hurry away, too, Harry reached out a hand and held him back.  
  
"Dobby, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course, Harry Potter, sir." Dobby straightened the bright red pullover he wore. "Dobby will always help you, sir."  
  
"Thanks, Dobby."  
  
Carefully Harry pushed the tablet further away on the table. He could eat later. Now he had to know something first.  
  
"Dobby, I suppose you know already about the new relationship between me and Draco Malfoy."  
  
Dobby's large ears sunk down. Harry felt pity as he saw the fear in the huge eyes. Even when Dobby was now free, Harry knew that he still feared the Malfoy's, he served for so long.  
  
"Yes, Dobby knows, sir. And Dobby knows that it isn't Harry Potter's fault. It was the young Master Malfoy who tricked him." Restlessly Dobby pulled on his fingers, one after another. Harry winced because of the noises this made. "But Harry Potter must not fear. Dobby will always be there for him."  
  
"Thanks, Dobby. And you must not fear the Malfoy's any more. I will not let them hurt you. But I wanted to ask you something else."  
  
Harry hesitated. Should he really ask Dobby? He had promised Draco not to tell any one, but on the other side, Dobby had worked for the Malfoy's many years.  
  
"Dobby, I want to know..Do you know Aaron Malfoy?"  
  
Dobby winced visibly and backed away, his eyes huge with fear.  
  
"Ma..master Aaron? Yes, Dobby knows." The little houseelf stuttered, nervously playing with his hands. "But not much. Master Aaron never stayed long at home, always stayed in school when while holidays. Though when he was there, he never treated us House elves nicely, not he didn't. But in that he wasn't different from the other Members of the family. Harry Potter, sir."  
  
Harry flinched as Dobby suddenly jumped forward and grabbed his hands tightly, his eyes glowing frantically. "Dobby will not let any of the Malfoy's hurt you, sir. Dobby will protect you, sir. Dobby will protect you, like he has at the end of second year, as Master Lucius wanted to kill Harry Potter. Dobby promises, sir."  
  
It took Harry awhile to soothe Dobby after his emotional breakdown, and while he stayed in the huge kitchen of Hogwarts, he never again mentioned the Malfoy's. When he was true to himself, had Dobby's outburst scared him a bit, as is promise to protect. He was the second in this new school year who had made such a promise to him. And he suspected that he wouldn't be the last. When he thought about what he had to tell his friends about Draco and him-surely there would be many more who would want to protect him.  
  
And Ron would surely be the first.  
  
Was he really so weak looking that everyone thought he needed protection?  
  
After some sandwiches, a piece of cake and lots of fresh orange juice, Harry left the kitchen, his mind heavy with thoughts.  
  
Dobby's fear from Aaron Malfoy had been clear to see. And that meant that Draco hadn't lied to him. All things he had said were true.  
  
\\ Whhatcchh out, you will walk againsst thhe wall.\\  
  
Harry blinked-and stopped just inches from the stonewall. He hadn't noticed that he had reached the curve(???) of the hallway.  
  
"Thanks, Azula." Harry sighed and petted the snake hanging around his neck. Was it just his imagination or weigh she now more, after her breakfast? The muscles started aching under her constant weigh.  
  
Azula shortly slipped her tongue tenderly over his skin, causing goose- bumps to appear.  
  
\\ No problem. But whhat were you thhinking about, thhat you nearly walk againsst a wall?\\  
  
Harry turned away from the wall. It was time to meet Draco in the Great Hall. He had promised to be there for dinner.  
  
"It's Dobby and his fear from Draco's older brother. I had thought, maybe Draco had just told me his kind of view, that he darkened the story a bit, because he hates his brother. But Dobby-alone the thought from Aaron Malfoy had scared him so much."  
  
\\ I, too, met thhiss man you call Aaron.\\  
  
The black Adder curled her body more comfortable around the boy's neck, ignoring Harry's astonished look.  
  
\\ I ssaw hhim, sshhortly before I sspoke to you. Hhe sstood besside my ccagge and looked at you and I felt wavvess of hhate emanating from hhim. I don't need to know hhim, to know thhat hhe iss a bad persson. You hhave to watcchh out for hhim. In ssome wayss hhe meanss more dangger thhan thhe Dark Lord. Hhe iss able to do thhings Voldemort wouldn't.\\  
  
A shudder ran down Harry's spine. More danger than Voldemort? Able to do things that even Voldemort wouldn't dare to do?  
  
That weren't good prospects for the future. Somehow he felt that this year would be a lot harder and more dangerously than all the years before.  
  
Maybe he did need the protection from all of his friends after all, if he wanted to survive this year.  
  
His friends-and Draco.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Well, chapter is over again. I really hope you liked it.  
  
For those who want to know: Loreley is a place in Germany. It is a curve from our greatest river, the Rhein. A legend says, that a beautiful woman once sat on a rock in the river, at this curve, and sung with her wonderful voice.  
  
Now to the questions, once again. First: you all read that Draco is giving Harry four days where he can tell his friends about his bonding with the younger Malfoy. Now I want you to decide what happens:  
  
Harry manages it to tell his friends alone, without help from anyone.  
  
B) Harry don't find the words to explain it and the four days are going by and Draco comes back to him  
  
Harry and Draco are getting caught in a -well, let us say in a romantic situation- by his friends before the four days are over  
  
Well, it is your decision. But that aren't the only questions. Here some more. Do you want a Hermione/Ron relationship? I have something in mind for Hermione, but that wouldn't stop love between those two.  
  
I think that was it. Even when I'm sure I forgot something. 


	12. chapter 12

Disclaimer: Just a few of the characters are mine. You will know which ones.  
  
Warnings: This story contains slash, means boy/boy love. So, don't like don't read.  
  
A/N: Hey, sorry it took so long. But I have a good information. A very good indeed. I get my own Computer. YES! Then I can finally write the chapters directly on the computer and the chapter shouldn't take so long anymore. Now, when this aren't good news. Whatever. Hope you will like this chapter. It is shorter than the last, but I didn't want to let you wait any longer. So I wish you a Merry Christmas and a good New Year.  
  
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Chapter 12: Friend or Foe: Return of Old Friends part 2  
  
Dark clouds covered the sky from one horizon to the other, thick and heavy because of the rain they carried. The ground was wet from the rainfall and here and there were wide puddles.  
  
Harry eyed the clouds suspiciously, uneasily shifting from one foot to the other. Surely it would rain again soon and he had to remind himself that it had been his own idea to await the arrival of the Hogwarts Express at the station instead of in the warm cozy Great Hall. But he was nervous.  
  
Soon all of his friends would be with him again. And within four days he had to tell them about his new relationship with Draco Malfoy, or the blond Slytherin would do it, which would cause a major catastrophe.  
  
Harry groaned. He could just imagine Ron blowing up, threading to kill Draco.  
  
He had to find the right words to avoid that.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Surprised, Harry flinched. He hadn't thought he would hear that voice for quite some time.  
  
Slowly he turned around, until his eyes finally fell on the lean figure of Sirius standing behind him. What he saw shocked him.  
  
The taller, black-haired man was totally drenched. His robe was hanging on him like an old rag and under it he was only wearing washed-out jeans and a white shirt, which clung onto him like a second skin.  
  
And his eyes.  
  
Harry cringed inwardly as his heart made a painful twitch in his chest, as he returned Sirius' look out of dull eyes.  
  
So tired. So exhausted.  
  
"Sirius."  
  
Sirius shifted a bit, seemingly unsure if he should stay or leave. Harry hurried to take a step forward. He couldn't let Sirius walk away like that.  
  
"Sirius." He said again, reaching a hand out to him.  
  
Harry felt the taller man flinch at the hand on his arm.  
  
"Sirius, please. We have to talk." Sirius lifted his eyes to look into pleading green ones.  
  
"About what?"  
  
Harry withdrew his hand. "You came to me. You spoke my name just minutes ago."  
  
Harry held the gaze of his godfather in silence, aware of the tension between them. But they had to talk now or they would lose each other, that he was sure of.  
  
Finally, after a few minutes that seem to Harry like an eternity, Sirius let out a deep sigh.  
  
"I'm sorry, Harry. It was not in my right to speak to you like I did in the infirmary. I yelled at you and I shouldn't have done that. But I was mad because of the Malfoys, for what they had done to you."  
  
Harry stayed silence. He didn't know what he should say to that. Sirius' words in the infirmary had hurt him.  
  
"We don't know each other that well, Harry." Sirius continued in a low voice, just loud enough that Harry could understand him. "We had just a few hours together last year, too few to know what kind of person the other is. I had too few with you. And when I saw Malfoy kissing you and you kissing him back, I became jealous. He, the son of a Death Eater, had spent more time with you, while I, your godfather and the best friend of you dead parents, had to hide because of a crime I didn't commit."  
  
"It wasn't my idea to bond my life with a Malfoy." Harry murmured, seeing the jealousy in Sirius eyes. "I was shocked, too, as Draco told me what he had done. And I'm not in such a good mood that he has done this to me. But I think that I trust him, now that I know him a bit better. He isn't that spoiled bastard that I always thought he was. He wants to protect me and he and his family have completely broken with Voldemort."  
  
"A trick." Sirius spat.  
  
Harry shook his head firmly. "No. It's the truth. Draco has told me something last night, that convinced me that he is telling the truth. And before you ask," Harry raised a hand as it looked as if Sirius wanted to say something, "I promised Draco I wouldn't tell anyone. I will not break this promise."  
  
Sirius glared at him out of darkened eyes. Harry returned his gaze silently. He wouldn't tell Draco's secret. Not before Draco would give him the permission.  
  
Sirius heaved a sigh. His gaze softened.  
  
"How can you be so sure?" he asked, resignation in his voice.  
  
Harry couldn't help but to blush.  
  
"He loves me."  
  
"And do you love him?"  
  
"No, I don't think so." Harry's blush deepened. He averted his eyes to the ground. "But to tell you the truth-I think I can learn to love him." This time Harry sighed. "But I'm really not sure. I'm so confused right now. I can't forget what Draco had done to me and my friends in the past four years, but on the other hand he has totally changed his behaviour."  
  
"You mean toward you." Sirius said with a growl. He shook his head and stepped beside Harry. " I can't tell you how you should feel, but I can tell you that Lucius Malfoy's son won't stop looking down upon all the others who aren't pureblooded wizards. For that he is too much of an aristocrat and too proud of being a pureblood. You'll see."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
But couldn't he bring Draco to change?  
  
Sirius shifted his gaze from the railroads disappearing into the horizon to the mighty silhouette of Hogwarts.  
  
"I can't say that I'm happy with your new relationship, Harry, but I can accept that it wasn't your decision. And, after all, I don't have to live with the Malfoy under one ceiling. So, friends again?"  
  
Surprised, Harry looked at Sirius's hand, outstretched to him, and then up at his face. Should it really be that easy?  
  
A happy smile appeared on Harry's face as Sirius' large hand wrapped itself around his in a strong grip.  
  
Sirius returned the smile before he pulled Harry in a tight embrace.  
  
Harry relaxed into his hold, ignoring the wetness starting to damp his own clothing.  
  
"I'll try to make it up to you." Sirius whispered, tenderly brushing his fingers through Harry's unruly hair. "Every year that you were forced to live with those Muggles. And I will try not to see your father in you, like I sometimes do. You are you."  
  
Harry closed his eyes. His father. He had missed his parents his whole life long, had often imagined how his life would have been when they were still alive, even when he had been unable to remember them clearly. What must Sirius had felt, who had grown up with James Potter? What had he felt like when he had seen Harry, who just looked like his best friend?  
  
He couldn't imagine.  
  
Harry tilted his head back to look up at the man his parents had chosen to be his godfather.  
  
"You must miss my parents a lot. More than me, I suppose. You had known them so many years."  
  
Sirius' smile turned sad. "Not more than you, Harry, just in a different kind of way. But let's not talk about it anymore," he continued, stepping back. He let his eyes shift over Harry's body and they narrowed slightly as he discovered something.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Sirius reached a hand out and carefully touched the side of Harry's neck with two fingertips, where two deep red and purple spots were clearly to see on the lightly tanned skin.  
  
"There are two bruises. But when I think about it, they look more like," his eyes shifted to confused green ones, "they look more like hickeys."  
  
Harry felt the familiar heat creep up his cheeks. And with it came the memory of a smug grin on Draco's face and his comment about another mark on Harry.  
  
Sirius face stayed calm as he watched Harry starting to stammer, his face red from embarrassment.  
  
He lifted a hand to stop any speaking. "Let's not talk about it. That is something between you and your life-partner," Sirius couldn't hold back a growl, "that I don't want to know more about. It is your decision alone what you do. But I would beg you not to do it when I could see it."  
  
Harry kept his eyes firmly on Sirius'. He clearly remembered Sirius' opinion in this matter.  
  
"That's right," he said.  
  
The older man shook his head. "Let's not talk about it," he repeated. He turned away. His eyes swept over the little station. Soon the students would return to Hogwarts and he would help to teach them.  
  
"It's not long until your friends will arrive. Have you already figured out how to tell them your little news? The journey to Hogwarts isn't that long."  
  
"Draco gave me four days to tell them."  
  
Sirius snorted. "I already can see how your hot-tempered friend Ron will blow up, when he hears it."  
  
//I can see it, too.// Harry thought, keeping it in his mind.  
  
Ron had to accept it. There was no way to change it, and when Azula was right about her feeling of Draco's brother, they all had to stand together, instead of fighting each other.  
  
Not that that helped him to figure out how to tell his friends.  
  
"I have to go." Sirius suddenly said, turning back to Harry. "Dumbledore and Snape want to speak to me about the potion, before the students arrive. When they enter the hall all the teachers have to sit at the Head table."  
  
Harry's face lighted up. "What will you teach?"  
  
A teasing grin appeared on Sirius' face.  
  
"You'll see."  
  
He sent Harry a wink, before he started to walk up to Hogwarts, his stride now more relaxed than before.  
  
Harry smiled and watched him getting smaller and smaller. He couldn't explain how glad he was that Sirius wasn't mad at him anymore. And he couldn't wait to enter the Great Hall to see who Sirius Black would be from now on. Even though it was a bit sad that he couldn't teach as himself.  
  
When Sirius had gone, Harry turned his attention back to the horizon where the train would appear, then shifting his green eyes to the slow-moving rain clouds.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The interior was gloomy, despite the sun outside.  
  
Draco's eyes needed some moments to adjust to the abrupt change. He waited, wand in his hand, before he stepped further into the room, noticing with displeasure the dust covering nearly everything.  
  
Not that there was much to cover- just some destroyed chairs in one corner that showed that people had once lived in here.  
  
"It is good to see you, Master Malfoy."  
  
Draco's eyes shot to the darkest corner.  
  
A tall man stepped out into a dim light coming from a crack from a window that was, like all the others, closed shut with crossed boards.  
  
A nearly blinding white robe hung down his skinny body, not better than from a coat-hanger, and unlike the robes wizards usually wore, this one couldn't be opened at the front. A wide hood hid the head under it completely in shadow, but Draco knew the face nearly as well as his parents. A face with skin that looked like old parchment and eyes so dark that nobody could look into them, eyes where you couldn't where the pupil began.  
  
Well, not nobody.  
  
Draco relaxed as the man slowly came to him and lowered his wand.  
  
"It is good to see you again, Wenshore. How long has it been since we last saw each other?"  
  
Wenshore pushed back his hood and smiled at the blond boy. "Long enough that you could grow into a good looking young man, Master Draco. It is appropriate to congratulate you to your bonding. I'm sure your choice is excellent as always."  
  
"Of course." Draco couldn't help but to grin as he thought about his chosen. "After all, my bonded, Harry Potter, is the son of two wizards. Not a pureblood like me, but that's not his fault."  
  
Wenshore smiled. "I'm Mr Potter will be a good addition to the Malfoy family. It will be my pleasure to meet him when you introduce him to everyone."  
  
"Not so soon, Wenshore. Harry still needs time to understand that I'm now part of his life. But your wish to congratulate me wasn't the reason you wanted to see me, was it? Why did you send for me?"  
  
The smile vanished from the older man's face as he bowed before Draco. "I fear I have bad news. A friend of mine gave me this." He handed a piece of paper to Draco. "This will be published in the Daily Prophet tomorrow."  
  
Frowning, Draco looked down at the paper. As his eyes fell on the neat handwriting, they widened in surprise.  
  
"What the hell?!"  
  
**************************************************************************** *******************************************  
  
"Harry!"  
  
Before Harry could react in any other way than to stare at the two people who came running to him through the crowd of kids, they already were with him, pulling him into a tight embrace.  
  
"Ron? Hermione?" Harry gasped, nearly crushed between his friends.  
  
Carefully he untangled himself from them and looked at the two people who meant everything to him.  
  
To do that he had to look up.  
  
Ron had always been the biggest one of them, but now he seemed to tower over Harry from a height nearly two heads taller than in the year before. He must have had a really amazing growth spurt over the summer.  
  
And Hermione.  
  
Slowly Harry let his gaze wandered away from the grinning Ron, to the girl in the Golden Trio. Even she had grown, he noticed, slightly miserably. But not only in height.  
  
Blushing Harry noticed the more feminine curves of her body and face. And there were two more things that had grown in the summer.  
  
"You're looking a bit like Ron, like when we met in London." Hermione said, amused.  
  
Harry could feel the heat in his cheeks rising. Quickly he looked up, into bright eyes. To do that he didn't have to raise his head as much as with Ron, but he still had to.  
  
Could it be that he was the only one who hadn't grown in the holidays?  
  
Maybe the teachers had given everyone growth pills before fourth year had been over, and he was the only one who hadn't gotten one.  
  
Grinning, Ron grabbed him, ignoring the startled yelp. "It's so good to see you again, mate. But you really have to explain something to us. Why haven't you answered our letters? If my dad hadn't told us that you're already in Hogwarts, we would be worried to death."  
  
"I'm sorry. I was forbidden to owl you. Snape said that nobody was allowed to know where I was."  
  
Shortly Harry stayed locked in Ron's arms, allowing him to hold him - //Not as comfortable as with Draco.// - before he stepped back.  
  
"But it's really good to see you again. I've missed you guys."  
  
They shared a grin. Finally they were together again.  
  
"What did you do all alone?" Hermione asked, as they walked together to the horseless carriages, Harry between his friends like in old times.  
  
"It was boring. Right, mate?"  
  
Harry rubbed his belly. "Well, not really. I had enough distraction."  
  
// In the form of a certain Draco Malfoy.//  
  
Harry hesitated, waiting as Ron and Hermione climbed into an empty carriage.  
  
Should he tell them about Draco now?  
  
Surely it would be easier to get it over with as fast as possible, wouldn't it?  
  
"Hey, look at that. The Ice Prince with his minions." Ron suddenly called out, startling Harry. "I can't believe he has the nerve to come here."  
  
Dumfounded Harry looked at his friend. Ron sighed and turned his head around so that he could see the named Slytherins. Draco Malfoy and his two bullies, Crabbe and Goyle, making their way through the chattering teens.  
  
Hermione leaned past Ron to see. "He looks strangely satisfied, don't you think."  
  
Ron let out a disgusted snort and glared at Malfoy. "Maybe he and his morons have harassed some poor first years."  
  
Draco turned his head to them as he walked by, flashing them a knowing smirk.  
  
Ron fumed and only Hermione's hand on his arm prevented him from jumping the blond.  
  
"Ron, don't!"  
  
Malfoy raised one fine eyebrow, before he continued walking, pushing some second year girls out of his way.  
  
"That arrogant bastard! He thinks himself above everyone!"  
  
Hermione ignored Ron's anger. Curious, she watched Malfoy entering another carriage. The first thing that she noticed was that the summer must have been good to him. She always had seen him as handsome, even if she would never tell that to her friends, but now he was more than that. He was beautiful.  
  
She squinted her eyes together. But how out of character of him, not to greet them with a sneer and an insult.  
  
"That's strange, he didn't even insult us. Don't you think so, Harry?"  
  
No answer. Just another disgusted snort from Ron.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Hermione turned to Harry, still standing beside the carriage and was greeted with the sight of her friend with a bright blush on his face and glazed-over eyes.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Harry blinked and blushed further as he met the curious eyes of Hermione.  
  
"W-What did you say?"  
  
Had Hermione caught him staring at Draco?  
  
He couldn't help it. In the second Ron had turned to look at blond Slytherin, he hadn't been able to look away anymore. He had been enraptured by the sight of...of his Draco.  
  
And as his silver eyes had met his, all thoughts of telling Ron and Hermione about the bond had vanished.  
  
Harry shook his head, trying to erase the dizzy feeling.  
  
//Don't think about it. I have four days to tell them.//  
  
He shot a look at the scowling Ron. // I just hope he will not do anything stupid.//  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Hermione sighed. "You're not listening, Harry. Now, for the third time. Don't you think that Malfoy acted strange just now? He didn't say anything mean or insult us in any way."  
  
"Maybe he has changed during summer." Harry said tentatively.  
  
Thoughtfully Hermione stared at the carriage in which Malfoy had climbed as it started its way up to Hogwarts.  
  
Harry hurried to climb in with his friends. He didn't want to be left behind when their carriage started.  
  
Ron glared slightly at his two friends, as they sat opposite him.  
  
"I don't know why you think Malfoy's changed. He will never change. He's too proud of his heritage as a Malfoy and of being a pureblood. And don't forget his Death Eater father."  
  
Hermione leaned back. "Maybe you're right. One summer seems not enough time for someone like him to change."  
  
Harry sighed and placed a hand on his belly, where the magical tattoo was. His friends would never accept the bond with Draco.  
  
*************************************************************************** ****  
  
Hey, don't forget to review, okay. Love you, until then.  
  
Your P.D-chan ( 


	13. chapter 13

Disclaimer: The story and the characters aren't mine. Just the obvious.

A/N : HMM, chapter 13. Well, I hope you will like it. What I should think of it I do not really know. In 

the last weeks I'm not so sure about my writing anymore but that is just me. I have these feelings every once in a while. Ignore me--but not my story. 

Ah, something else. This chapter is not betaed. I let the Window program watch out for mistakes, but I didn't want to wait any longer. I send the chapter nearly three weeks ago. But if my beta reads this--please don't be mad. Maybe you're in holidays or too busy. I will contact you when the next chapter is ready. Or you can contact me. Maybe you don't want to be my beta anymore.

Well, my readers, have fun with this chapter and please leave me reviews. I have the feeling the last few chapters have been ignored by the most.

Chapter 13

With a loud moan Ron fell on his bed, face first.

"It' s so good to be here again."

Harry snickered, joined in by their other roommates, Seasmus, Dean and Neville.

"What is wrong, Ronny-boy? Finally found out the joys of being a teenager?" Seasmus asked, slumping down beside Ron, a leering grin on his face. 

Without looking up Ron raised one arm and pushed the other boy out of his bed.

Dean shook his head and walked to his own bed ignoring Seasmus on the floor. Then his eyes fell on another bed beside his own, a bed that hadn't been there before the summer.

"What's this?"

Harry looked up. "What do you mean?"

Dean nodded to the new bed. "Here is one bed to much."

Harry frowned. A bed?

"Maybe…."

"Haven't you heard?" Seasmus interrupted. He stood up, using Harry as a hold. "There will be four more students with us this year."

That brought him the attention of all four boys.

"New students?"

"From where?"

"Boys or girls?"

"Who told you that?"

Seasmus grinned, enjoying the attention. "I have good ears. I eavesdropped a little when the new Head boy-someone from Hufflepuff-told Hermione about them." He raised one finger and started to speak in a lecturing voice. "Four students from Germany will join or school for one year and every house will have the pleasure of accommodate one of them. So, all the prefects have the duty to take care of them."

"What?" Dean looked shocked, eyes wide. "I'm prefect this year. Why don't I know a thing about it?"

Seasmus grinned mischievously. "Well, when I remember right, the Head boy said something about an unreliable prefect from Gryffindor." He gazed at Dean with a mock questioned look. "That was you?"

Dean shot him a murderous glare and hurried out of the room, probably in search of the Head boy.

Laughing Seasmus fell back on Ron's bed.

Harry tried to hide his own smile and sat on the other side of the bed. Ron turned onto his back.

"I didn't know that Dean was the prefect of our year. Hermione was predictable, but Dean…."

"I know what you mean." Seasmus said. He rolled around so that he could see Harry. "I thought Harry would be the one, with him being the Boy-who-lived and all that."

"Yeah."

Silent Harry stared at his hands. 

The Boy-who-lived. 

Golden Boy.

He was so sick of these names. Couldn't all understand that he hated it to be called that way?

Draco was the only one who treated him not in a special way.

He smirked and raised a finger to his lips. Of course, it wasn't normal either, how he treated him.

Special in his own way.

"How do you think the boys from Germany will be?" Neville suddenly asked, changing the subject. 

Harry threw him a grateful look, before he shrugged. "I don't know. But I hope we will get along well with the one that will share our room. It would be terrible for all of us if we wouldn't get along."

Ron nodded. "I just hope we don't get a second Malfoy."

A new grin appeared on Seasmus face. "Oh, I don't know. If they look just a bit like Malfoy, I won't protest." He let out a savouring sound. "I really enjoyed looking at him at the diner."

"Well, than I hope I don't disappoint you." A new voice said, amusement clearly to hear.

All four boys jumped in surprise, turning to the door at the same time.

The boy leaning at the doorway flashed a grin and stepped into the room.

Harry was the first who found his voice again. Slowly he rose, eyeing the unknown boy who had to be at the same age as him and his friends. Strangely he seemed familiar to him. Had he seen him before?

"Who are you?"

The boy smiled and tugged some strands of his red blond hair behind an ear. "Sorry when I disturbed you. My name is Alexander Lange-but you can call me Alex. I'm one of the students from Germany and a prefect has told me I should go up here, because I now belong to Gryffindor."

He held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Harry took the offered hand-and sighed inwardly as the light green eyes of the boy looked at the scar under black bangs. It was always the same. 

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" Alex asked. "I already saw you in Diagon Alley, but there you were busy with your…"

Harry's eyes widened and with the reflexes that let him catch nearly every snitch, his foot landed on Alex's foot, causing the other boy double over in pain, unable to end his sentence. 

Seasmus jumped up. "Harry? What are you doing?"

He hurried to Alex side and helped him to the bed. Harry ignored the puzzled looks from his friends. He was just glad that he had stopped the Boy from saying anything about Draco. He needn't a stranger that told his friends about his relationship. Then Ron surely would explode.

"It's okay." Alex reassured Seasmus. He looked at Harry and raised one eyebrow. Harry returned the look slightly confused. No anger in his gaze?

"I would get angry, too, when I had a scar just like Harry, and everybody would stare at it."

//What…?// Harry thought puzzled.

He held his hand out again. "I'm sorry for staring."

For a time Harry stared into the light green eyes of the German boy, but all he saw was honesty and truth. With an inward sigh he grabbed the offered hand just like before. 

"It's okay. Welcome in Gryffindor."

***********************************************************************

"This is your bed."

Harald eyed the bed--a huge monstrous thing out of dark wood with thick curtains from green silk--before his gaze returned to Draco standing beside him.

Draco raised one fine brow as he noticed the dislike in the eyes of the German boy.

"What is it?"

Harald looked away again, to the bully figures of Crabbe and Goyle sitting on Crabbe's bed, sharing their loot of sweets, and ignoring the staring boy.

This time it was more than dislike Draco noticed in the brown eyes.

"I have to share my room with these guys?" He asked, disgust clearly to hear in his voice.

Draco fought down the urge to snarl at him. Who did this guy thought that he was?

"Is something the matter?" He asked instead, reminding himself of his new status as a prefect.

Harald's eyes swept over the other three beds besides his own, ignoring the question. "Three beds. Is the other one yours?"

Draco grinned. //Gladly not.//

"No. This was my room for the past four years, but now I have private rooms."

//For me and Harry.//

Harald frowned. "Your own rooms? But isn't it so that just Headboys and Headgirls are having their own rooms, beside the teachers?"

//So, you informed yourself.//

"That is right. But there are other circumstances, too, were rooms are given to students." Draco crossed his gaze with Harald's. "But why I get my own rooms has you not to interest." He added in a cold voice. He smirked as Harald flinched under the gaze of his silver eyes. 

"That is what you will have to learn here. Stuck your nose in the secrets of the other houses, but leave your own housemates secret s to themselves. Understood?"

Harald swallowed and nodded.

Satisfied Draco strolled past him to the bed he had shown to the German.

"Here you can put your things into."

Casually he opened the trunk at the foot end of the bed.

//I must remember to ask for an extra room for the clothes.// He thought as he looked into the trunk. //I never liked this cramped things.//

He added it to his already long list of things to get for a happy life with Harry, before he turned to Harald again. He wanted to get over this as fast as possible. He never had thought he had to baby-sit a student when he had received the message that he would be prefect of Slytherin.

"As you can see the house elves already took care of your things."

Harald hurried to his side and peered into the trunk, seeing his things neatly lying side by side.

"House elves?" He asked puzzled, touching one shirt that lie on top and that he had seen in Germany the last time, wonderingly.

Draco crossed his arms before the chest. "Of course. I forgot. In Germany you have this little creatures that never show themselves, haven't you? What are they called?"

"Mainzelmaennchen."

"Yes." Draco fought the urge to let out a snort. "I heard from them, but I don't think they are any good, compared to our house elves. Whatever."

He turned away. "That is unimportant. Have you any more questions, before I go?"

"Do you go to you boyfriend, now?"

Draco stopped. Slowly he faced Harald, seeing from the corner of his eyes that Crabbe and Goyle had raised their heads, forgetting the pile of sweets.

In Harald's face was just friendly curiosity to read, but Draco had learned to look behind the fake masks, and the satisfaction he saw behind Harald's he didn't like.

Just in time he could stop a smirk that wanted to break out.

„My boyfriend? You mean my bonded I think." Silver eyes held brown ones. „I wish I could go to Harry, but I can't. But this is not you concern. Remember what I told you earlier."

He stepped nearer, so that only Harald could hear his next words. "I know what you tried to do. You wanted to yell out the secret that the once rivals are now a couple, so that all the Slytherin's would be getting mad and would try to separate us. But I have bad news for you."

His breath brushed against Harald's ear as he leaned forward and he felt a shudder running through the boy.

"All in Slytherin who have to know about Harry and me know it. And the ones who don't know aren't important and will not say anything against me. So, did you get it?"

Harald's mouth worked silently. Draco noticed his eyes darting to his lips.

This time he couldn't prevent a sneer.

He stepped back from the brown haired boy. "Listen, I don't like your behaviour and I'm not interested in you. Stay away from me, to you hear? Or else you will regret it."

With this he turned and left the room without looking back.

******************************************************************************************

Harry had always had a light sleep, for that he would hear Aunt Petunia's wake up call immediately. But he was sure that even a dead person would be awakening by the scream that echoed through the room this very morning.

Warily he opened his eyes--and was greeted by the sight of Ron standing on his bed, staring panicky at the black form of Azula, hissing at him from beside Harry's pillow.

Harry rolled his eyes and fell back. He had totally forgotten to tell his roommates about his new little friend and that she slept beside him every night.

„Harry!" Ron shouted, scanning for anything with which he could attack the snake. „Harry, don't move! There is a snake beside your head!"

Harry heaved a sigh. "I know, Ron."

Ron drew in a sharp breath. "What do you mean, You know?! Harry, this is no joke. There really is a snake and she looks mighty pissed. She will bite you! Where is my wand?"

Making more noises than he should Ron stumbled out of his bed in search for his wand to curse the snake.

\\ Thisss boy hasss woken me up.\\ Azula hissed crumply, uncurling herself slowly, her deep black

Harry yawned and stretched lazily. What a commotion at such an hour. He threw a short look to the other beds in the room. All were occupied with the still sleeping forms of his friends. Obviously he was the only one who had been awoken by Ron getting hysteric. 

How he envied them.

Shortly Harry thought of falling back asleep--the pillow looked so inviting--but all thoughts like that fled his mind as Ron appeared before him again, with a desperate look in his eyes and his wand in hands.

„Okay, where is this beast?"

Azula hissed angrily and fled under Harry's cover. Harry let out a gasp, as her warm body slipped over his stomach.

"Hah!" Ron's hand pulled the cover away from Harry, desperate to find this living symbol of Slytherin, ignoring Harry's angry look.

"There you are!" 

Harry was able to jump out of bed before Ron could land on him. 

"RON!"

Annoyed Harry decided to get himself dressed.

The sleep-tousled head of Dean appeared over his blanket. "What is going on here?" He murmured, blinking irritated at Ron's figure, crawling over Harry's bed. "What is Ron doing with your bed, Harry?"

Harry just shrugged and fished fresh clothes out of his trunk, ignoring Ron's shouts behind him, sometimes underplayed with angry hisses from Azula. 

"Ron's just met my new friend." Sending a short grin to confused Dean, he walked to the bathroom. On his way there he caught the gaze of his new roommate, sitting on the edge of his bed, grinning at Ron's behaviour.

"Morning," Alex greeted him.

Harry just nodded and continued walking, but he was sure he could feel the light-green eyes following him until the bathroom door closed with a low thud. 

"Please, not another problem." Harry moaned, not liking what he thought had seen in the eyes of the German boy. "Draco will kill him."

Maybe he should have hitting Alex more strongly on his foot, to discourage him. Who would want to be near someone who used to step on the other ones foot.

A loud shout of pain reached his ears.

Harry sighed and started to undress. "That is until Ron isn't killing Draco first, for giving me Azula."

***************************************************************************************

Draco frowned and focused his eyes more intently on the little shadows at the horizon, barely to see in front of the thick rain clouds. But he didn't have to see what they where, because he knew. They were the owls of the school and of the students, bringing the post.

What he wanted to know was, if they carried what he was so anxious about. If Wenshore hadn't been able to accomplish what he had asked him to do, this breakfast would be a total disaster.

Especially for Harry.

A slight groan escaped Draco's lips as the owls were finally near enough to see the things they carried in their beaks and claws.

„"Harry, I hope you had been able to tell your friends." He murmured, feeling a slight ting of sadness for his love. No four days time for him, like he had promised him.

With a last look to the approaching owls Draco hurried to the Great Hall. Better when he was there before Harry.

***************************************************************************************

By the time Harry came out of the bathroom again, his hair still slightly damp, all of the boys were awake. He couldn't prevent a light grin at the sight of Ron sitting still on his bed, Dean beside him who examined his outstretched hand.

"There isn't a single scratch, Ron." Dean said as Harry approached them. "You're just imagining things."

"But I felt it. I felt her fangs."

"If this snake had bitten you for real you would be dead by now." Alex interrupted. He shook his head. "That was a Black Adder. Wasn't it, Harry?"

Harry looked at the other boy. Slowly he nodded, walking to his bed. Why did he knew so much about snakes?

"Harry." Ron jumped up and threw his hand nearly into Harry's face. "Your beast had bitten me."

Dean let out a little cough. Ron blushed. "I mean, it nearly bit me. Dean says it is yours. Can you tell me why you have a snake in your bed?"

Harry frowned. There it was. This demanding tone in Ron's voice, which he hated so much.

He really loved his friend, the first one he ever had had, but sometimes his wish to know everything from him angered Harry. He needn't to defend what he was doing.

Suddenly Harry wanted to tell Ron everything, just to see him speechless for once. 

"You really want to know?" He asked in a calm voice, which told lies about what really was going on in him. Faintly he heard a voice yelling inside of him to stay silent, but he couldn't. He felt like if he was under the Imperious spell.

He took a step forward. "First of all there is no beast. The snakes name is Azula. And I didn't get her myself. She was a present. Do you want to know from whom?"

Ron swallowed. He didn't like the sudden creepy calmness around his friend. And those green eyes behind the glasses. Were they glowing?

Somehow he didn't want to know anymore where the snake had come from, and a quick glance to his other friends showed him, that he wasn't the only one who had noticed Harry's behaviour.

Dean stood beside him, his eyes focused on the small boy, as where the eyes of Seasmus and Neville, who still sat on his bed, one shoe forgotten in his hands. The only one who didn't look confused was the German boy. In his eyes lay a slight amusement, which Ron couldn't understand. 

He returned his gaze to Harry. 

Harry smiled slightly as Ron's eyes met his once again. He could see the surprise in them quite clearly.

Soon he would be more than just slightly surprised.

"You know, Ron. While I was here at Hogwarts a lot happened. Especially to me. And getting Azula was just one of these things that occurred. But you wanted to know who gave her to me." Harry tilted his head slightly. The voice in his head screamed now, but it was like it came to him through a thick wall.

All of his thought of telling Ron and Hermione at a silent moment and alone had fled his mind. He needed to tell it right now.

He locked his gaze firmly with Ron's. "Draco Malfoy. He was the one who gave her to me, just a few days before. As a," he took a deep breath," gift to our betrothal."

Now it was out. This voice in him fell silent.

Ron's mouth fell open in shock.

"You have heard right." Harry continued hastily, before Ron could say anything. "Draco and I are a couple now. I'm bonded with him. I…."

Harry stopped. He couldn't continue. The secret was spilled and everything that would explain it further he didn't want to tell so that all his roommates could hear. That he should save for when he was alone, and when Hermione knew it too. 

Rubbing his belly he turned around, ignoring the looks that followed him like burning marks as he fled the room.

**********************************************************************************************

Later Harry couldn't tell how he got to the Great Hall. It was all a blur to him. He just suddenly stood before the entrance, the huge doors open. From within the familiar noises of the students were heard--talking and eating.

But somehow…..

Harry frowned. What he just imagining or was it louder than usually.

Carefully he stepped through the entrance--and froze as suddenly hundred of eyes fell on him, together with a silence, which was creepier because it had come from one heartbeat to the other. 

Harry stood frozen. Suddenly he knew how a deer hit by the headlights of a car must feel.

What has happened?

His eyes swept over the hundreds of faces turned to him. What was wrong?

Helpless his eyes searched for soothing pair of silver eyes at the Slytherin table, but all he met were dark looks. 

Where was Draco?

"Harry."

Harry flinched. He turned to the voice. Hermione was running towards him, her eyes large with worry and--disbelief?

Her hands held the familiar form of the Daily Prophet.

Suddenly Harry felt bitter tasting bile in his mouth. The Daily Prophet. Not again. Hadn't it been only yesterday when it had made his life a living hell with its writing.

A short gaze told him that nearly everyone in the Hall held a Prophet in his hands. That had to be it. That was why everyone looked at him. Somehow the Prophet had discovered something horrible again, like last year.

Harry glanced at the table in front of the hall, where the teachers sat and shortly his eyes met the pale blue ones of Dumbledore. And for the first time Harry saw anger in them. But not directed at him.

"Harry. Oh, Harry,"

Slightly breathless Hermione reached him. But before she could say a thing, Harry grabbed the Prophet out of her hands. He had to know what stood there. He had to.

At his eyes fell on the font page everything went still in him.

HARRY POTTER RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPLOSION IN DIAGON ALLEY--VOLDEMORTS HEIR FINALLY SHOWING HIS TRUE FACE

*********************************************************************************************

Well, this was it. I hope you liked it. Press the little button below to show me just how much.

Your P.D-chan


	14. chapter 14

Disclaimer: The story and the characters aren't mine. Just the obvious.  
  
A/N: So, that didn't take so long, didn't it? And because I don't have to say anything--except that I hope   
  
you enjoy reading it--the author's note is short. Just one thing: Here is the bit of Draco/Harry fluff,   
  
that you missed so much in the last chapter. Lol.  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Only a small glowing ball hovering in the air gave a little light.  
  
Aaron took a deep breath, savouring the taste of blood and sweat on his tongue, which lie heavily in the air. Then he opened his eyes and looked down at the broken figure lying before his feet.  
  
Blood covered the naked body. Blood was sprawled around it in a large puddle, oozing from many wounds.  
  
With a sweet smile Aaron bowed down, ignoring the blood that came on the hem of his robe.  
  
"And, have you already decided if you want to answer my question? It would make everything easier for you, you know."  
  
Silence.  
  
Aaron sighed. "Stupid, stubborn old man."  
  
He turned away and looked at the man standing behind him, covered in the Deatheater robe with the mask hiding his face. But Aaron knew who tried to hide under it. He knew everyone of the pathetic persons, which tried to hide their identity.  
  
"He is unconscious. Tend to his wounds and tell me when he awakes."  
  
Obediently the man nodded and bowed slightly. Aaron walked out of the room, not mere than a small cave cut into the earth. He came past more as he strived down the path, but he ignored them. All were dark, and just here and there were low moans, weeping or whispering to hear.   
  
Aaron didn't care for the people in the primitive cells. They were against the Dark Lord and because of that they needed punishment. Though they were only lowlifes, not worthy to be called fiends of Voldemort.   
  
Aaron sneered distastefully as he reached the stair that would lead him back to the ground floor. The steps were full of blood and sweat and the smell of fear and pain hung deeply in the air.  
  
"That this useless pigs can't wait until they get into the cells."  
  
He shook his head and began to climb the stairs, avoiding the puddles of blood with long steps. But before he could leave the cellar through the door, a voice from behind him held him back.  
  
"Lord Aaron!"  
  
Frowning Aaron stopped and turned half around, looking down the stairs.  
  
Not long and the lean figure of the Deatheater he had just left minutes ago, came hurrying up the stairs, his eyes behind the mask distraught.   
  
"Lord Aaron, the prisoner Wenshore had died." The man panted.  
  
Aaron fought the urge to hold a hand before his nose, as he smelled the fear emanating from the man. Instead he narrowed his eyes. How should he stand the presence of those people any longer?  
  
"So, he fled from me. Finally having found a way to release yourself from the clutches of the Malfoy's, hm Wenshore. How disappointing."  
  
He frowned lightly. "But what should I do with you now."  
  
A noise from behind him distracted him once more. The heavy oak door opened.  
  
Aaron smiled as the brown haired man appeared in the doorframe.   
  
"Ah, Jac. You are coming at the right time. Think about it--Wenshore had died. And that before he could tell me what I wanted to know."  
  
The young man smiled and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for you, Aaron. But I might have a message for you that will please you again."  
  
Aaron's fine white eyebrows shot up.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Jac looked meaningfully at the still shivering Deatheater, his eyes emotionless. Aaron rolled his eyes and dismissed the masked man with a lazy hand move, who was more than glad to obey.  
  
"Now, spill it." Aaron demanded, after the man had disappeared down the stairs again.  
  
Jac grinned slightly at the impatient tone in his master's voice.  
  
"I think I just show you."  
  
Without further speaking about it he handed Aaron a Daily Prophet.  
  
At once silver eyes fell on the big headline.  
  
"It was this that Wenshore tried to stop." Jac spoke while Aaron read the article. "And he nearly succeeded. He managed to sneak into the office of the Prophet and stole the article. That was what he had been burning when he was found from the Deatheaters."  
  
Aaron looked up. "He burned it? But why…"  
  
He pointed at the article.  
  
"I had the original, because I am the author." Jac said grinning. "And of course I handed at to the Prophet when they asked me to."  
  
Speechless Aaron stared at the man. Then his mouth parted to a similar grin, his eyes sparkling. "Jac, you're a genius." He looked back down at the paper in his hand. "This will tear the trust of the people in their little hero further. Nobody of them will believe him that Voldemort is back."  
  
He grinned. "No wonder that my little brother didn't want this to get published."  
  
A sudden idea came to his mind. His grin brightened.  
  
"Come, Jac." Aaron slung one arm around Jac's shoulders. "I want you to help me send a present to my little brother."  
  
********************************************************************************************  
  
"That's not true! I just know that can't be true!"  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Not so loud, Ron." She hissed.  
  
Carefully she glanced around, but nobody in the great hall was paying attention to him or her. Everybody was more interested in the Daily Prophet. In little groups they were gathered around the Prophet, reading and discussing the article.  
  
Here and there little fights broke out, about if that what the article was saying was the truth or a lie.  
  
To Hermione astonishment she noticed that the only ones who weren't taking part of the arguing, were a lot of Slytherins. Maybe it had to do what Ron was so angry about. Because she felt it wasn't the article that he meant--he hadn't even read about it yet.  
  
After she had handed Harry the Daily Prophet, he had ran out of the hall and before she had the chance of following him, Ron had stormed through the doors, at once starting to yell at her.  
  
"Ron. Before you start again just tell me what you're talking about." She said, after she had gained his attention. Hopefully this would go quick. Harry needed their help now. The thought of him being alone now…  
  
She didn't want to think of that. He needed his friends now.  
  
Ron stared at her. "What I'm talking about? What I'm talking about?! I'm talking about Harry making the lousiest joke that I ever heard of. And that on our first day here."   
  
Ron shuddered and threw his hands up in a helpless manner, but before Hermione could do more than open her eyes, he continued. And said the last thing Hermione had imagined he would.  
  
"According to Harry he is now bonded with no other than Draco Malfoy."  
  
For the first time in her life Hermione found herself speechless, unable to say a single word. Torn between laughter and surprise she stared at the Redhead before her.  
  
Ron nodded, his face as red as his hair. "See, see. Do you not agree with me that this has to be bad joke?"  
  
Hermione's worked soundlessly. Harry and Draco, together, like that?  
  
This couldn't be--couldn't it?  
  
Harry hated the arrogant Slytherin, they all hated the self announced Prince of Slytherin. And the other boy returned this hate just as strong. That they suddenly…  
  
No, it had to be a joke, just as Ron had said.  
  
But--she hesitated. This dreamy look in Harry eyes as Malfoy had gone past them at the train station. And Malfoy who hadn't said a single insult to them.  
  
She shook her head desperately. No, it wasn't true. It couldn't be.   
  
"And…and you're sure he said it like that?" She croaked out. Maybe Ron hadn't heard right.  
  
"No, not like that. He more used the word betrothal."   
  
Ron made a move to spit out, but as Hermione scowled at him he swallowed. "His words were about the snake I found in his bed this morning."  
  
Hermione's eyebrows shot up in astonishment. A snake. Of course Harry could speak Parsel, but a snake--  
  
Ron closed his eyes so that he could remember clearly the words Harry had spoken to him. "I wanted to know from whom he had gotten the beast, and he answered it was a present from Draco for their betrothal."  
  
"A present for their betrothal?" Hermione mouthed silently.   
  
Harry and Malfoy…  
  
She shook her head. "This is not going to help us. We have to speak with Harry about this."  
  
"Yeah, and I will throttle him so long until he says it is just a joke." Ron growled, showing his fist. Then his eyes scanned the hall for the first time. "By the way--what is happening here? Why are they all so restless?"  
  
Hermione sighed and wordlessly handed her friend the Daily Prophet.  
  
  
  
Ron looked puzzled at the newspaper.  
  
Hermione raised her hands to cover her ears.  
  
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!"  
  
*******************************************************************************************  
  
Harry had always been alone in his first eleven years of his life.  
  
Some would say that he had been with his relatives that he hadn't been alone at all.  
  
But Harry knew one could be alone, completely alone, even when there were people around him.   
  
His so-called relatives had been with him, but they had just taken notice of him when they wanted him to do things for them. Weeding the garden, cleaning the house, cooking….  
  
Once he wasn't needed anymore he was put into the cupboard, like a used broom, unwished except he was to be used.  
  
And Harry had been glad for every moment the Dursley's had a new task for him, because that had meant they noticed him--even when it just where disgusted looks--and was spoken to--even when it were just insults.  
  
Then the letter had come. The letter from Hogwarts that told him that there were people who cared for him, who wanted to know where he was, who helped him like Hagrid had done.  
  
He had found friends and even the fear of the fame he was suddenly faced with couldn't scare him anymore.   
  
But now…  
  
With a deep heaving sigh Harry put his head on his arms, crossed before him on the stone balustrade, ignoring the sharp wind pulling at his clothes.  
  
This time he wished he had a cupboard he could vanish into.   
  
He wished the letter hadn't shown up at all.  
  
He wished for the author of this damned article to drop down dead.  
  
"Whining again, Potter?" A voice snarled behind him.  
  
Harry didn't move. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"  
  
Why was it that every time he wanted to hide from the world someone found him.   
  
Feet shuffled on the stone ground. Harry risked a glance. Straight and proud Draco stood beside him, looking out at the grey sky.  
  
Mesmerized by the silver eyes Harry watched as Draco's gaze wandered from the clouds to the ground far below them.  
  
"You found yourself a pretty high place to pout." Draco stated calmly, looking at the ground far below them. Without the bound calling to him, he never would have been able to find Harry so quickly.  
  
Harry's eyes widened. "I'm NOT pouting." He said, pushing himself up.  
  
Draco smirked and turned to face Harry. His heart swelled as he saw the mesmerizing green eyes glowing with anger.  
  
"What else are you calling your retreat up here?" He raised a hand as Harry made a motion to protest. "And don't deny it. You were fleeing from all down there in the great hall. You let them see that it affected you what they are thinking."  
  
Harry's hands were so tightly clenched that they trembled. How could he say such a thing?  
  
"What else do you suppose I should have done? Just go to my table and pretend not to know that everybody is staring at me?" He shook his head. "In any other situation I could do that, but not now. Not when everybody had read this article full of lies."  
  
Harry's head sunk down. "How could they write that? How could they write this lie? They all saw the sign of Voldemort hovering over the destroyed building."  
  
Draco stood still. His heart longed to embrace his love, but he fought the urge. It was Harry who had said that he didn't need to be protected all the time.  
  
And the blond knew that that was true. He could protect Harry, and he would protect him. But not from everything and everyone. With this he just could give him strength and let him know that he wasn't alone.  
  
And this article….  
  
Draco took a step forward and gently laid a hand on Harry's shoulder, feeling the tension in the small body.  
  
"This talk we had already, Harry. Do you remember? We talked about the people having too much fear of the old, so they create themselves a new enemy. That is the reason of the article."  
  
He took a deep breath. "And I must confess that I knew about it before today. More clearly I have knowledge about it since yesterday."  
  
Surprised Harry raised his head to look at Draco. He knew about it?   
  
How…  
  
A small smirk edged about Draco's mouth. Though--Harry eyes widened a bit as a sudden feeling of regret appeared in his mind. That wasn't his feeling.  
  
"A servant of mine gave me a copy of the article yesterday. I was shocked and gave him the order to prevent it to appear. But he didn't manage it as you could see." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Harry."  
  
"What are you sorry about?" Harry whispered. Unconsciously his hand wandered to his stomach. His mind felt so--strange. So many emotions that weren't his. He had the feeling that he drowned, nearly overwhelmed by the flood of--Draco's feelings.   
  
"I'm sorry because I couldn't prevent this to happen. After the last year I wanted you to have a more quit year this time."   
  
A smile appeared as Draco noticed Harry's hand clenched at the fabric on his stomach. Over the bound mark.   
  
He took another step forward.   
  
"You feel me, don't you?" He murmured. His silver eyes bore into dazed green. "It's overwhelming, isn't it? This sudden feel of someone else sharing your mind with you."  
  
Harry shuddered and nodded. All his former thoughts had disappeared, all his wishes. There was only Draco in his mind. It was such an incredible feeling, this share, and this bound.  
  
This boy standing before him, with these incredible silver eyes. He could not only see him, but feel him and knew that it was the same thing for the other.  
  
He took a step forward; closing the distance between them until they bodies were touching. A shudder ran through him, as an answer of an equal motion of the one before him.  
  
Why so suddenly? He hadn't been able to feel him before this.  
  
"It's because you are a bit emotionally unsteady right know." A husky voice whispered into his ear, breath tickling his neck, his skin suddenly more sensitive.  
  
"Because of that your mind was able to strengthen the bound between us, so that you are able to sense me. But it will stop when you have calmed down a little."  
  
Harry couldn't prevent the moan escaping him. He didn't want this to stop. He wanted to stay here forever; not thinking about that he had yet to face all is fellow students.  
  
And Ron who he had told about Draco in a rush of emotions.  
  
Groaning he buried his face into Draco's shoulder.   
  
"What is it?" Draco asked feeling the distress in his voice. Carefully he slung his arms around Harry's shoulders, to show him he wasn't alone. And he liked feeling Harry so close.  
  
"I have told Ron about us." Harry mumbled.   
  
Draco raised one eyebrow in astonishment. He hadn't thought that Harry would manage to tell his friends so fast.  
  
"This morning Ron saw Azula in my bed. He was really nervous about her and thought she wanted to bite me, so he tried to kill her." Harry let out a deep sigh. "When I told him she was a present he wanted to know from whom and I told him it was from you."  
  
"How did he react?"  
  
Harry shook his head slightly, stepping back from the blond. "I don't know. I left him and went to the great hall. And then Hermione showed me the article."  
  
"Does she know?"  
  
"No, I didn't have the time to tell her. But by now Ron surely has told her."  
  
Harry took a few steps away from Draco. Draco looked at him curiously as green eyes scanned him up and down, though he stayed quiet. But what he felt was a sudden distress coming back to Harry, that and a deep sadness.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Green eyes darkened. "It's gone. You're gone."  
  
Hands again clenched to fists. "I can't feel you anymore."  
  
Draco sighed a little. "Like I said--it will last not long." He lifted a hand and held it to Harry. "But you can learn from me, so that you will feel me every time you want."  
  
Harry eyed the hand held out to him. The sudden disappearing of Draco in his mind had struck him like a punch and he had to fight the panic rising in him, telling himself that the other boy was still there.   
  
And the absence of Draco had awoken the feelings of loneliness again.   
  
// Can it really be that I have attached myself to Draco so quickly?//  
  
The tenseness left his body. He returned the soft look out of these beautiful silver eyes--and lifted his hand to lay it into Draco's without hesitation.   
  
// The answer to my question is a clearly ‚Yes'.// Harry thought as he felt himself returning the smile that was just for him and no one other.  
  
********************************************************************************************  
  
Hermione let out a deep sigh and turned away from the doorway and the two boys standing so close together. After what she had witnessed there was no doubt anymore that it was true: Harry and Draco were together.   
  
Without stopping she grabbed Ron's arm--who still looked at his best friend and his most hated enemy in shock, his eyes and mouth wide open--and dragged him with her as she descended the stairway. Harry mustn't find them spying at them.  
  
But--her brown eyes narrowed--Malfoy had to answer a few questions to her, if he wanted or not. She would make sure that she got her answers.  
  
"Just watch out, Draco Malfoy."  
  
******************************************************************************************  
  
A satisfied grin appeared on Aaron's face, as he watched the last bit of his present vanish into the green flames.  
  
"I hope you will enjoy my present, little brother."  
  
***************************************************************************************  
  
Well, did you like it? Come on, don't torture me. Give me reviews. This story is living from your reviews. And another thing: I think I can update this story now every two weeks. So, look out for it. 


	15. chapter 15

Disclaimer: No, no ,no. Not mine. Why do I have to say this every time?  
  
A/N: I have been told that something is odd with chappie 15 so I reposted it. I hope it now looks like it should.  
  
For the once who start with this chappie: I'm sorry that I took so long.  
  
And as award that you had to wait so long: the next chappie is ready and just has to be betaed from my Beta reader. So when you're lucky it will be out by the weekend.  
  
Important Note: In this chapter Draco and Harry will speak shortly about the possibility of MalePregnacy, but this story will have none of it further more. The mentioning in this chapter will be the only time it appears in here. So all who are against it don't worry. There will be no such thing.  
  
Well I hope you don't find to much mistakes. That would be so embarrassing.  
  
Chapter 15  
  
The fire crackled peacefully in the fireplace, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere.   
  
"I can't do it."  
  
"You're not trying hard enough."  
  
Moaning Harry fell back onto the fur before the fire. His head was pounding with an upcoming headache. "I'm doing the best I can."  
  
Draco let out a snort. With narrowed eyes he looked at Harry lying before him on his back. It was a tempting view, but he pushed the thought back.   
  
He had promised Harry to teach him using his mind and he would keep this promise. "No, you're not."  
  
Harry shot him an angry look, which Draco chose to ignore. The black haired boy sighed at silver eyes just looked at him calmly. He turned his eyes away. "Maybe you're right. But it is not so easy."  
  
Draco shared his sigh. "Nobody said it would be easy."  
  
He stood, stretching his body as he did so. He had sat too long to be comfortable. Every muscle was itching, especially in his backside and his legs. "Let us have a break. Something to drink?"  
  
Harry nodded, thankful for the break. They had been here for hours now.  
  
His eyes scanned the room they were in. It was not the same room he had shared with Draco right after he had come to Hogwarts that was certain.  
  
The room they were now inthe common room, he suspectedwas bigger than the one he had slept in. And the furniture was more elegant surely more expensive than he had ever seen before. Even the Gryffindor tower couldn't compete with this and he had been sure there couldn't be better.  
  
Looking around, he knew he had been wrong.  
  
Soft flowing curtains in front of wide windows showing the lake and the grounds, the colour changing every time he looked at them. Once they seemed to be black and in the next second they were more to the dark green side. Carpets covered the floor, so soft than one's feet sunk in, lying on polished wood. A selection of comfy looking armchairs out of warm tan silk stood around an equal couch before the fireplace, now a bit further away, because they had decided to sit on the floor.   
  
Harry stroked the white fur he was lying on. It was a level of softness that he had never experienced before, gliding through his fingers like water.  
  
Draco had told him that it once had been the fur of a unicorn, the pet of his GreatGrandfather. Then he had smirked and had added that Harry could be sure that the unicorn had already been dead from a natural deathwhen the fur had been taken from him.  
  
And Harry had wondered shortly if the blond could read his thoughts after all, because in that moment Harry had thought about the curse one would suffer if he drank the blood of a unicorn.  
  
He let out a deep sigh and dropped his hand. His gaze shifted over the walls.   
  
Like everywhere else in Hogwarts, paintings hung on the walls, though not as many as in Gryffindor Tower. In secret, Harry often had asked himself if Dumbledore used the paintings to spy on everybodyteachers and students alike.   
  
Slightly frowning, Harry let his eyes shift over the paintings, searching. He really shouldn't think like that, but  
  
There was just one picture with people in it.   
  
Slowly Harry stood up, his gaze never leaving the painting. It was hanging opposite of the fireplace between two of the large windows. Nearly as big as Harry and so wide that he just could touch the sites with the fingers when he stretched out his arms. And from all the paintings it was the one with the most personality.  
  
Harry halted before the painting and stared at it. And the man and woman in it returned his gaze silently.  
  
The man stood behind the woman, one hand lightly on her shoulder, looking at Harry with Draco's silver eyescold, stern and without any emotion. They were hard like his whole face that betrayed no feelings from the man, though it was noble and handsome, toolike one of the old statues that Harry had once seen in a museum, the ones from the old roman senators.   
  
And the woman  
  
Harry swallowed as his eyes met the deep brown ones of the woman. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen before. Even the veelas couldn't compete with her.  
  
Her shimmering brown hair flowed around her face and down over her breast, caressing the deep blue brocade of her dress. Streaks of silver weaved into the cloth, glittering with every elegant movement that she made.  
  
  
  
As she smiled Harry felt the heat spreading in his face. "I wish you a good day, Harry," she said in a smooth voice. Harry nodded, not trusting his voice.   
  
The man behind her scowled a littleHarry saw the little wrinkles building up on his brow. "You seem to lack of manners, little boy. My wife just greeted you and you stay silent."  
  
She smiled again and laid a hand of the one of her husband, though without adverting her eyes from Harry. "Calm down, love. He is just overwhelmed." Her smile became more mischievous. "Shall I remind you how you reacted when we first met?"  
  
The man looked away and Harry was sure that he noticed a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. But he had been right  
  
He took a step forward and bowed lightly before the pair. "I'm really sorry about my rudeness. I wish you a good day."  
  
Another smile lit up the woman's face. "There is no need to apologize, Harry. But I think we should introduce ourselves, before we continue talking."  
  
Graceful she stood up and for a moment Harry thought she would leave the paintingand couldn't stop thinking about what a presence this woman must have had when she had been still alive. Surely she had caught all the eyes of the people when she had entered a room. "I am the Lady Isabel Malfoy. And this." She turned half around and smiled tenderly at the man. "Is my husband Lord Julius Malfoy."  
  
Harry bowed before the ancestors of Draco. "It's a pleasure and an honour to meet you." He wondered how long ago these two had lived. Their clothes spoke of an age long ago. Had the painting been made at that time, too?  
  
Isabel shook her head lightly. "It is our honour to meet the new bonded of our family, Harry. Welcome to the Malfoy family."  
  
"Thanks, Lady¼."  
  
Slender arms slung around him from behind, stealing the words from his lips in surprise. "Greetings, Grandmother, Grandfather," Draco's smooth voice said beside Harry's ear. As he turned his head slightly he saw affection in the silver eyes, with which Draco looked at the painting. "What do you think of my bonded?"  
  
Isabel smiled gently at the pair before her, while as she sat down again. "He is lovely, Draco. I feel glad that you found your lifelong partner." Smiling Draco tightened his hold on Harry.   
  
"I agree with my wife," Julius Malfoy declared, his stern silver eyes on the two boys. "He is a strong wizard and will bring new blood into our family."  
  
Puzzled Harry looked at him.  
  
New blood?  
  
What did he mean by this?  
  
He could feel Draco chuckle behind him. "That he will surely, Sir, though I haven't told him yet that he can."  
  
Now Harry was totally confused. He freed himself from Draco's embrace so that he could look at the blond wonderingly. "What are you talking about?"  
  
A bright grin appeared on the blonds face. "Have you never asked yourself why nobody of my family had a objection against me bonding with a male?"   
  
Harry shook his head and really couldn't suppress a blush spreading over his cheeks. He never had thought that much about their relationshipa relationship he just had begun to accept in the way that he knew that there was no way out of it.  
  
And so he never had thought about the result of it either.  
  
They were both male, so  
  
He frowned. "Now that you mention itwhy weren't your parents against you placing the bond on me? They must have known that it means that you have to chose a woman to make sure your name lives on."  
  
When Draco had to go search and producethe blush returneda child, he surely would leave Harry alone and he could live his own life. Harry fought a grin wanting to surface. The situation wasn't as hopeless as he had thought. He glanced at Draco and felt the familiar warmth spread in him. Though, he would miss the comfort and safety from the Slytherin.  
  
The feeling of him in his mind.  
  
The feel of his arms around him.  
  
The loneliness he felt when Draco wasn't around...  
  
Harry swallowed. This feeling of fear when he hadn't felt Draco anymore.  
  
Suddenly Harry felt regret that he never had learned what it meant to love.  
  
He looked up at Draco, at the handsome face, the beautiful silver eyes that had held dislike towards him for four yearsand which now were warm and soft with love.  
  
Maybe he should stop asking himself if he was in love.   
  
Maybe he should let himself fall into the relationship with Draco, into the one whom he had learned to trust, whom he had learned loved him for who he was. Not because he was the famous Boywholived.  
  
Draco brought up a hand and gently stroke Harry's cheek, savouring in the soft feeling of the skin.  
  
"Oh, my parents desperately want grandchildren. And because they knew you are strong in magic and mind, they know that you are able to give those children to them." He winked. "Of course with a little help from me."  
  
**********************************************************************************  
  
Purple and green clouds puffed up from the pot, merging together to a colour Ron couldn't really make out or describe.   
  
He squinted his eyes together. Maybe he would manage it when he breathed enough of the smell produced from the potion boiling in the pot. He really began to feel a little dizzy already.   
  
"'Mione?" he asked hesitantly, looking at the bushy haired girl cutting some spider legsbig hairy spider legs into tiny pieces. "Do you really think this will work?"  
  
"Of course this will work. The book says so."   
  
Carefully, Hermione put the chopped legs into the pot and waved at the open book lying safely away on another desk, so that nothing would happen to it. "Harry has been cursed or somethingwe don't know exactly. Because of that we can't make the counter potion or spell, so we have to do something against the wizard who did itin our case, Draco."  
  
Ron snorted distastefully as he thought about the sight he had seen on top of this towerHarry in the arms of the stinking Slytherin. "I think we just should go to Malfoy and beat the bloody shit out of him until he lets go of Harry."  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"What?" Ron looked at the shocked Hermione and shrugged. "Messy, but effectual. And it doesn't stink like this." He waved at the boiling, cloud spitting potion. "I don't trust it."  
  
"It will work, Ron, don't worry." Shaking her head so that her bushy hair flew, she stepped to the book. It was time for the next step.  
  
"It was just luck that he caught Harry in an emotionally unstable moment. After what happened in the last year and all."  
  
Cedric's dead body came to her mind and the shock in Harry's face, the dreamlike state he seemed to have been in after he reappeared, telling everyone that Voldemort was back.  
  
And nobody had believed him, except a few friends of his.   
  
She sighed and wiped away a lonely tear before Ron could see it.  
  
Harry had had such a hard time and now the lies spread from the Daily Prophet  
  
"I will not let you have him, Malfoy." Hermione whispered, ignoring Ron's muttering behind her about how he would let Malfoy suffer for doing this to his best friend. "Harry has suffered enough and I won't let you hurt him."  
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
Silence.  
  
Harry blinked. Surely he hadn't got this right.  
  
He just thought  
  
"Draco." Roughly Harry pushed Draco's hand away from his face. "I must have zoned out a moment. I just thought you said something of 'Me' having children. But everyone knows that just women can bear children."  
  
"Well, then you have talked with wrong persons, Harry." Draco said, sneering slightly. He lowered his hand and pressed it against Harry's belly. "But we are wizards. And with Magic, even the pregnancy of a male is possible. Why do you think I put this tattoo on your stomach?"  
  
Harry shuddered as Draco's touch produced a warmness that spread out in his body.  
  
"The magic with which this tattoo was formed is very old and very powerful," Julius Malfoy cut in. "My ancestors knew what they were doing when they formed it, knew that there would be members of the family who would fall in love with the same gender."  
  
Isabel nodded, looking gently at the shocked Harry. "And it happened before Draco. My own grandchild is the child of two men. And the whole Wizard World accepts it. You mustn't fear being rejected because of this."  
  
Harry fought to get air back into his lungs. This couldn't happen.  
  
Why was it that, just as he thought nothing worse could happen. Just when he started to accept his former shock something else came along and struck him like a punch to the gut?  
  
He stepped back from Draco, avoiding looking into his eyes.  
  
"Please excuse me. I need to be alone."  
  
Before anyone could say something Harry hurried out of the door.  
  
Draco stood stock still, looking down at his hand.  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
"Hmmmmm."  
  
Teeth shimmered in the dim light.   
  
"Do you like it?"   
  
A deep moan was the only answer.   
  
Alex grinned against the damp skin, letting the boy just barely feel his lips as he continued his way down the neck.   
  
A light scent of sweat hung in the air of the little closetfrom which there were many in this old wondrous castle. And he was certain that there were a lot more passages and out-of-the-way spaces that he hadn't discovered yet.  
  
Perfect places to have a little fun.  
  
Alex looked at the boy, his shirt opened and hanging on to his wrists, sweat letting the skin of his chest glimmering, leaning with his back at the wall.  
  
And the students seem more than willing to follow him into these cramped places.  
  
He didn't know his nameand he didn't want to know. All he wanted was a little fun.  
  
The nameless boy let out another moan as Alex started to pull at his trousers, expertly pulling down the zipper.  
  
He grinned again.  
  
And fun he would have.  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
The cold air felt good on his face.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Harry leaned against one of the many pillars of the corridor that led to one of the small inner courtyards, of which Hogwarts had so many.  
  
Every time Harry stood in one of these placesthe most time places were the other students didn't come toHarry had the feeling of the castle being with him, embracing him.  
  
For him it was like Hogwarts was alive, was aware of everything going on in it and on the grounds around it.  
  
Harry took another breath.  
  
And why shouldn't it be? Hogwarts had been building up with magic and magic had been cast in it for centuries, magic had been absorbed from it in these years. Why shouldn't that cause something in these old stones?  
  
Somehow this thought always soothed him. The thought of Hogwarts looking out for the ones who lived and worked in it, protecting them like a mother hen her children.  
  
Sighing Harry pressed his cheek against the warm stone of the pillar.  
  
Here he was safe.  
  
Here he could think.  
  
Feet shuffled behind him on the stone floor.  
  
"Didn't I say that I need to be alone, Draco." Harry sighed. "Don't follow me."  
  
"Sorry, but I'm not Draco."   
  
Surprised Harry turned around. There, just a few feet behind him stood Alexander Lange.  
  
Harry frowned, eyeing the state of the other boy. His long hair hung loose around his face, some strands slightly darker and sticking on his brow. And a slight redness lie on his face.  
  
"Have you been running. Why are you so breathless?"  
  
A satisfied grin appeared on the German's face. "Not really. I just had a little fun in examining your pretty castle." He stepped beside Harry, who continued to frown.  
  
Pretty castle?  
  
As the other boy stood near him the scent of sweat reached his nose. Sweat and something more, something he had smelled just once, when he had entered the room of his uncle and aunt.  
  
A blush spread over his face as it dawned him.  
  
"You were..were¼" he stuttered, not sure which word to use without sounding rude.  
  
Alex raised one eyebrowthen he grinned, as he understood what Harry was trying to say. "Yes, I was."   
  
Harry decided not to think about what this new guy had done. After all, it wasn't his concern, and he didn't want to make it his. He had other problems.  
  
He didn't need to seek out new problems, they came to him on their own.  
  
And it didn't have to bother him when some of his fellow students fell for the German.  
  
He returned his gaze to the inner courtyard.   
  
His hope that Alex would leave when he didn't speak with him crumbled as the taller boy stepped beside him, following his gaze. "What a peaceful place. Do you come here a lot?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "Sometimes."  
  
//Go away. I want to be alone.//  
  
Silence spread between them, Harry looking out into the yard and Alex looking at him. The black haired boy could feel the eyes of the other boy on him. It was creepy and he didn't like it.  
  
"Can I help you with something?" Harry asked when he couldn't stand the silence anymore.  
  
Thoughtful Alex continued to look at Harry. "I read the Prophet," he said. Harry's whole body tensed. "But I think the article is nothing but a lie," Alex continued, smiling as Harry turned around, his eyes wide. "I saw you there after the explosion, helping to dig the wounded out of the ruins. This hopeless expression on your face¼"  
  
He raised a hand and slowly his fingers touched Harry's cheek, just barely, featherlike. "And your eyes tell me that you can't be the one responsible for that," he whispered, using both of his hands to cup Harry's face in them. Harry's eyes fluttered and shut.  
  
Alex breath against his face was warm. "Such beautiful eyes."  
  
He shouldn't let this happen. "So beautiful."  
  
He shouldn't.  
  
He wasn't Alex's.  
  
He was  
  
//Draco.//  
  
Harry opened his eyes againand the look in the deep green depths caused Alex to stop, his lips hovering over the ones of the smaller boy.  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
Feeling cold inside Draco let himself fall into one of the armchairs.  
  
That he could feel so cold even with the fire heating up the rooms was strange. Maybe it was because Harry wasn't with him anymore?  
  
"Now I have told him everything about the bond."  
  
"Don't worry, Draco. He will come back to you," Isabel said soothingly.   
  
"He loves you."  
  
Draco choked down a laugh. "No, he doesn't love me. He has accepted the bond and me because there is no way out of it for him. But he doesn't love me." His silver eyes turned to the fire. "I had hoped, but" He shook his head. "Maybe it wasn't one of my most brilliant ideas to force the bond on him. Maybe it would have been better to speak to him first."  
  
"It is a little late for that thought. But in that way you come after your Grandfather." Shooting a meaningful look at her husband, who avoided her eyes, Isabel continued. "He, too, forced the bond on me without asking, because he feared I would reject him otherwise."  
  
Draco couldn't help but to smile. The story of how Julius Malfoy had got his wife was one of the many stories he had heard in his childhood. Because of this story he had decided to do the same with his Harry.  
  
His smile faded. The only difference was that Isabel hadn't hated the Malfoy heir, like Harry did. And that Harry returned his kisses didn't mean that he didn't hate him anymore.  
  
"Harry," he murmured.  
  
"Draco," Julius Malfoy's voice tore him out of his thoughts. "Somebody is coming through the fire."  
  
Draco frowned. Through the fire?  
  
He turned his head and really, the flames had begun to change to a green colour. Somebody was using floo powder to reach him.  
  
Carefully Draco stood up. He wondered who would come at him. His parents would send a message before their visit.  
  
The fire cast green light onto his pale face and his hair as he stared into it, curiosity in his eyes.  
  
Then, with a loud pang a figure appeared in the flames, stumbling more than walking out of it. A tall figure, robes torn apart, every visible part of the grey skin covered in dried blood.  
  
Draco's eyes widened in shock. "Wenshore?" he called out, taking a step forward. What had happened to him?  
  
The old man tensed as Draco called his nameand raised his head.  
  
Gasping Draco froze as broken dull eyes looked at him, without any recognizing in them.  
  
Strangers' eyes.  
  
Dead eyes.  
  
//That can't be.//  
  
Coldness crept up Draco's spine. Warning bells begun to scream at him to do more than just stand there. But all he could do was stare at the broken figure of the man who had served his family for so long.  
  
"Wenshore?" The man who had once been Wenshore moaned, a long and agonized tone escaping his throat. Slowly, as if it cost him more strength than he had, he raised his right handand the long dagger he held in it.  
  
Isabel Malfoy screamed out in terror. "Draco!"  
  
//So cold.// Draco thought, staring at the raised dagger, on the blade shimmering green in the flames shining on it.   
  
And he couldn't do more than stare as his old servant let out a pained scream and ran at him, the dagger rose to kill him.  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
Another cliffhanger, hm?  
  
Hope you like it. 


	16. chapter 16

Disclaimer: No, no, no. Not mine. What am I saying? Of course, a few people are mine.  
  
A/N: Well, well, I will say nothing to it…….or maybe just one thing……JUST SIX REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER?  
  
I was so sad. I needed some time until I came out from my closet where I hid myself so that nobody could see my tears. Y_Y  
  
But thanks to the ones who did review. I love you guys.   
  
Ah, another thing. I have drawn a few pictures about the characters in my story. I have one of Draco and Harry kissing, one of Azula and one of just Harry. And I will make more. You can go look at them on the side www.zauberwaeldchen.de. It is a German side, but my drawings are the only ones under Fanart, so you should find them. Please tell me what you think of them, okay?  
  
Either as a review at Fanfiction.net or at the guest book on the Fanart side.  
  
Ah, and I have begun another story here on FF.net. If you like, read it, okay?  
  
  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 16  
  
**********  
  
"Let go of me."  
  
Alex stiffened, staring down into Harry's calm green eyes--but in their depths was something that send shudders down his spine.  
  
Carefully he removed his hands from the beautiful face and stepped back.  
  
"I'm sorry." He lied. "I don't know what came over me."  
  
Harry stayed silent, staring at the boy who wanted to kiss him seconds before. However, in truth he didn't see the other boy.   
  
All his thoughts were on the heat of the anger he had suddenly felt when Alex had touched him, had touched him like Draco had so many times before.  
  
He wondered why. Surely, he didn't want to be kissed by Alex, who seemed to come from a heavy make out and directly wanted to seduce him. Nevertheless, why this anger.  
  
This thought that nobody except Draco had the right to touch him like this.  
  
With a low sigh, Harry turned his attention back to the courtyard, rubbing his stomach.  
  
"It is okay." He finally said. "You just surprised me. I don't like that."  
  
Green eyes flickered shortly to Alex.  
  
"And make sure Draco doesn't hear about it." He couldn't stop himself saying, as if somebody else used his tongue.  
  
Alex nodded and Harry was sure he heard him mumble something unpleasant, though he couldn't hear what.  
  
He shrugged. It was Alex problem if he wanted to mess with Draco Malfoy of all people.  
  
A low chuckle from Alex caused Harry to look at him again.  
  
"I just had the thought--do you know that Harald has a crush on your Draco?" Alex grinned. "I mean he has it since he first saw him, two years ago or so. It was when the high and mighty Malfoy's visited our school in summer. Since then Harald's only goal in life is to have Draco."  
  
His grin became brighter, showing all his teeth. For Harry it was more a grimace.  
  
"And because you stand between Harald and his goal, he will try to break you two up. Who knows, maybe I help him to achieve that."  
  
He stretched lazily, causing his half opened shirt to show his well build stomach, keeping his eyes on Harry.  
  
Shortly Harry didn't know what to say. It wasn't because of Alex's nearly half naked state--for that he had seen Draco to often in a state with fewer clothes on and the blond looked a lot better.  
  
It was what had been said about Harald.  
  
That the German boy had a crush on Draco he had seen in Diagon Alley. His eyes had been on the Blond the whole time, memorizing every one of his movements.  
  
It was the fact that Harald had loved Draco for so long.  
  
Two years was a long time, especially for a teenager.  
  
Harry knew the feeling to long for someone. Hadn't he longed for Cho Chang the third year and the fourth?  
  
And now--  
  
Harry frowned, searching for his feeling for the pretty Ravenclaw. However, like before there was just the memory of an old feeling. Nothing of the heart beating and the hurt he had felt every time he had seen her. The cold and sweating hands, the heart bounding like mad.   
  
His first love seems to be nothing more than a fading memory.  
  
He shook his head and concentrated on Alex again.  
  
"I knew that he has a crush on Draco. I saw it in his eyes at Diagon Alley. However, he isn't aware of the bond between Draco and me. We are bond together for life." He sighed, still touching his stomach there were the tattoo was.  
  
Suddenly he longed for Draco's touch.  
  
He pushed himself away from the pillar, giving it a last caress.  
  
It was time to return to the Slytherin. They had a lot to discuss. Especially the thing with the other ability of the tattoo, which was something that Draco, had to explain a bit more.  
  
"Excuse me, but I will go now. Surely we will see us--Ahh."  
  
A sudden agonizing pain exploded in Harry, causing him to scream out and doubling over. It ripped through him, as if something was trying to tear itself out from him.  
  
"Harry?!"  
  
Hands clasped his shoulders, but for him it was as if the body they were touching wasn't his.   
  
Gasping he broke to his knees, not noticing the new pain as his knees met the hard stone floor. He was only aware of the pain coursing through him like flames, seemingly from everywhere.  
  
He bit his lips to keeping himself from screaming, pressing his hands forcefully against his stomach, clenching his eyes shut.  
  
What was happening to him?  
  
From where came the pain he felt all of a sudden.  
  
He moaned as another wave of pain erupted in him--pain, suddenly mixed with anger and fear.  
  
His eyes flew open, blindly staring in shock.  
  
This weren't his feelings.  
  
This were--  
  
"Draco!"  
  
With a sound, half scream, half moan Harry jumped to his feet, much to the surprise of Alex.  
  
The German boy could do nothing but to stare as the black haired boy dashed past him and down the corridor.  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
"Damn!"  
  
Draco stifled a scream as he met the wall, his wounded shoulder flaming up in new pain.  
  
Gasping for air, he stared at Wenshore, his old servant--who now tried to kill him.  
  
Staggering on his feet the old man stood in the middle of the room, blood dropping down the blade of his dagger.  
  
His blood.  
  
Draco grimaced and cursed his stupidity.   
  
Why hadn't he moved earlier instead of standing like a dumb and waiting to be killed. Hadn't in been for the fact that Wenshore didn't seem to be able to control his body anymore he would be dead now.  
  
He hissed in pain as he used the wall to steady himself. In addition, when he didn't get to Madame Pomfrey soon, he would bleed to death.  
  
The blood oozing out of the wound at covered the whole right side of his shirt already, making the light blue colour seem almost black. Moreover, it wasn't stopping.  
  
"Damn!"  
  
"Who is that man?" Isabel asked, standing on her feet. Julius beside her looked as if he wanted to jump out of the painting and attack the attacker of his Grandson.  
  
Silver eyes glowed with hate.  
  
Draco couldn't stifle a smirk. Slowly he moved nearer to the painting, using the wall to support his weak legs.  
  
"Don't you remember him? That is Wenshore. He served father for as long as I can think of, has always been there."  
  
"I find it more important to find out why he suddenly wants to kill you." Julius interrupted, eyeing the old man.   
  
Draco followed his gaze, blinking away some sweat pearls.  
  
That answer he would love to have, too.  
  
However, more important for him now was how he could defend himself.  
  
His wand lay on the little table beside the couch were he had put it after entering with Harry. Even when he would somehow be able to get to it past Wenshore--with his wounded arm he wouldn't be able to use it.  
  
The only feeling left in it was pain, flaring up every time he just barely moved it.  
  
His only chance seem to be that he got out of these rooms and find help.  
  
"Watch out, Draco." Julius warned him, his voice strained. "He has gained control over his body again."  
  
Wearily Draco blinked some sweat out of his eyes. It was true--Wenshore had stopped to stagger, had gained the control over his body once again and slowly turned towards the blond Slytherin.  
  
Draco shuddered as these dead eyes once again fell on him.  
  
"Oh, Wenshore." He moaned whispering. "What happened to you? Who did this?"  
  
The old man took a step forward, tightened his hold on the dagger. At Draco's voice, his head turned slightly to the side.  
  
He opened his mouth--and started to speak.  
  
His voice caused Draco to gasp in cold shock.  
  
"What do you think of my present, little brother?"  
  
"Aaron!?"  
  
  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
The common room of the Gryffindors' was in commotion.  
  
Every student seems to be here and everybody was talking, causing a riot that hurt in the ears the moment Remus Lupin entered through the painting.  
  
"What the hell?!"  
  
He raised his hands and covered his ears. Nobody was giving him any attention. He was sure that they hadn't even noticed that he had entered.  
  
Frowning he let his gaze shift over the lot of children, until he found the two persons he had been searching for.  
  
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley sat on the couch before the fire, seemingly unaware of the ruckus surrounding them. Both had their attention on a book lying in Hermione's lap.  
  
Lupin pushed himself through the students--and raised his eyebrows in astonishment as the noise disappeared, once he reached the couch.  
  
"A silence spell." He said appraisingly.   
  
Ron and Hermione's heads flew up.  
  
"Very good, Hermione. I should have thought that you would find a way to escape this."  
  
A blush coloured Hermione's cheeks.  
  
"Thanks, Professor Lupin."  
  
"What are you doing here, Professor?" Ron asked, leaning back. His eyes shortly darted to the students surrounding them.  
  
As he returned, his gaze to the older man Remus noticed a darkness in them that had nothing to do with annoyance towards his housemates.  
  
Remus swallowed a sigh.   
  
He could think of what had caused this anger in the redhead.  
  
"I'm here to speak with you. Both of you."   
  
He nodded to Hermione. She had put the book beside her on the couch.   
  
Curious Remus saw that she had laid the book so that he couldn't read the title on it.  
  
Were they trying to hide something from him, he wondered.  
  
It wouldn't be the first time.  
  
When he thought back to the third year--  
  
"About what do you want to speak, Professor? About the article in the Daily Prophet or about Harry?"  
  
"The Daily Prophet is out of our reach. Professor Dumbledore is the only one who can handle that." Remus sighed. "Tough the damage is done. No, I'm here to find out if you have understood the situation Harry is now in."  
  
Ron opened his mouth, his face red with anger and Lupin waited for him to explode--when Ron suddenly doubled over, the air leaving him in a pained gasp.  
  
"Of course we understand, Professor." Hermione said, smiling, patting on Ron's back helpfully.  
  
Remus raised one eyebrow. He could swear that he had seen Hermione ramming her elbow into Ron's side.  
  
Why had she interrupted him?  
  
Something defiantly was going on here.  
  
"Of course we are angry." Hermione continued, ignoring Ron who shot her an accusing look. "But we are angry at Malfoy, not at Harry. We know it is not his fault. He had been tricked."  
  
She leaned forward a curious sparkle in her eyes. "Do you know what Malfoy had done to Harry? What did he use that no one had protested against it?"  
  
Lupin raised his hands. "Now wait, Hermione. Draco had done nothing of which at least Dumbledore didn't know of. The young Malfoy talked long with the Headmaster for what I know and nothing of what he has done, is against the rules of the school."  
  
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but closed him again as Lupin looked at her sternly with his golden-brown eyes.  
  
"What really happened between Harry and Draco Malfoy is not my thing to say. But I know what there is to know, yes." He added as answer to the question in Hermione's eyes. "I give you the advice to wait until Harry comes to you himself and talks about it to you."  
  
He sighed. "Even when it will be hard for him, with this article in the Prophet."  
  
"Yeah, everybody will think the article is true, with Harry being together with the son of the greatest Deatheater." Ron growled out, in a safe distance from Hermione, clenching his hands to fists. "I bet this is all a plan of this weasel to seduce Harry to the dark side or to give him to You-know-who."  
  
"I can assure you that nothing of what you say is in young Mr Malfoy's mind. However, you just have to trust me with this. I can't tell you more. I came just here to make sure that your friend needs you now to help him through the lies the Prophet has spread."  
  
"We will be at Harry's side when he needs us." Hermione said emphatically. "By the way."  
  
She leaned forward a bit and whispered, shortly forgetting the spell around them. "How did Sirius react to it? Does he even know about it?"  
  
Ron's ears perked up in interest.  
  
Lupin let out a sound, half growl, and half sigh. "Oh, he knows it. Heard from it the same moment I did. And was more angry as I ever have seen him before."  
  
"Wow." Ron breathed. "And Malfoy still lives?"  
  
Lupin chuckled a bit and rose to his feet. "Just because there were to many people around to stop him. But he had a argument with Harry that gladly had been settled already."  
  
Slowly Remus shook his head, staring at the students, though not really seeing them.   
  
"And it is good that there have settled it out. With James dead Sirius needs Harry."  
  
Hermione and Ron shared a curious look. Never before they had heard, their teacher speak in such a nostalgic way.  
  
Or about the past when he had been a student with Harry's parents and Sirius.  
  
"I will go now. I still have things to do."  
  
Another time Lupin's eyes swept over the arguing students. "Because of the article and the commotion it has caused, classes have been cancelled for today, but that means I have to find another subject for my first class tomorrow."  
  
He nodded to the Hermione and Ron. "I will see you tomorrow."  
  
Both of them nodded and watched silently as their old new teacher left the common room.  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
With a pained gasp Harry again fell to his knees, barely managing to support his weight with his outstretched arms.  
  
Cold rough stone tore skin of his hands, but it was just an irritation compared with the pain in him.  
  
The pain that was much harder to bore with knowing that it weren't his pain.  
  
That it was Draco's.  
  
That something terrible was happening to him.  
  
"Damn whoever does this do you."  
  
Biting his lip bloody without knowing it, Harry fought himself to his feet again, clinging to the pain in his mind so he wouldn't loose it again.  
  
Clinging so tightly--how exactly he couldn't figure out--that he felt an headache rising from behind his eyes that he almost welcomed because it were his own.  
  
He wouldn't loose it this time, the ability to feel Draco.  
  
Hands caught him as he stumbled slightly, preventing him from falling again.  
  
"Here, let me help you."  
  
Harry turned his head and stared at no other than Alex.  
  
"You followed me?"  
  
Alex let out a snort. "Of course. Something is obliviously not right and when you are so determined to get somewhere, even with the pain you're in--what can a boy do instead of help you."  
  
He tightened his grip on Harry, slinging one arm around his back and Harry's arm around his own neck, nearly lifting the shorter boy up.  
  
"Okay, where to?"  
  
Gripping at Alex's shirt Harry nodded forward. "Down the corridor, then right until we reach a door. Draco's there." He added silently.  
  
One of Alex's eyebrows rose in sceptic, but without saying anything he hurried followed Harry's description, dragging the gasping boy with him.  
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
"Don't you think that I've done a very good job here?" Wenshore said with Aaron's voice, mockingly spreading his arms and turning around before Draco's widened eyes.  
  
It was a sick kind of show.  
  
Wenshore's dead eyes looking straight forward, his whole body moving just like a doll made by a untalented person--and moving his bitten lips more like a fish then in the smooth way he formerly used to.  
  
Draco's needed all his self-control not to throw up his breakfast.  
  
"I never thought that you would sink so low to learn the sickening magic of Necromancy." He spat out, laying all his disgust in his voice.  
  
Aaron laughed and Wenshore stopped, shifting his eyes on the wounded boy.  
  
"Necromancy is a kind of art, little brother. A beautiful art that gives me so many possibilities; a lot more than the magic you and all the other wizards use."  
  
"Does your master know of this?"  
  
Draco waved at Wenshore's figure with his bloody fingers. Talking was getting harder with every passing minute.  
  
In addition, it started to get so cold.  
  
A bright grin parted Wenshore's lips, showing the left ruins of his teeth.  
  
"What is the matter, little brother? Don't you feel well?" He eyed Draco, mock concern in his voice. "That wound really looks bad. What a pity that you can't go to the hospital wing to let your wound be tended too. How will you think the friends of your little beauty will react when he suddenly drops dead, following you into death."  
  
"Shut your mouth!"   
  
Stiffening a scream Draco brought together his last strength and fought himself to his feet.  
  
Glowing silver eyes looked at Wenshore with blazing hate.  
  
"I will not let it happen. I will not die here. Harry will not die. I won't let it happen."  
  
Dead eyes moved over Draco's body.   
  
"What do you think you can do? You barely can stand on your own feet."  
  
Aaron's laughter filled the room.  
  
Draco gritted his teeth and pushed himself away from the wall. He swayed dangerously, his legs starting to tremble under his own weight, but he managed to stand without help.  
  
Clinging to the thought that he couldn't die that he had to fight.  
  
Moreover, he had to live for Harry.  
  
His heart clenched in pain from the mere thought of pulling Harry into death with him.  
  
// Not like this.//  
  
With Aaron's laughter in his ears, Draco's eyes swept to his wand. He just had to get to it.  
  
It was his only chance.  
  
He made a stumbling step forward--  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
Wenshore stepped between him, his arm with the dagger raised, pointing at Draco's heart.  
  
Draco stopped. Silver eyes darkened as he glowered at the man that his brother had used for his own amusement.  
  
"It means goodbye for you now, little brother."  
  
Slowly the dagger rose, until its tip touched Draco's blood covered chest.  
  
The doors burst open with so much force hit the wall with a loud thud.  
  
Draco's eyes widened as he saw Alex Lange stand in the doorway--one arm around Harry beside him.  
  
"Draco!"  
  
Harry took a step forward, his green eyes wide with fear and confusion, as he looked from Draco to the stranger threading the blond.  
  
Wenshore's head turned around to look at Harry. Bloody bitten lips turned to a grin.  
  
"Well, well, what have we here? My lovely little brother-in-law."  
  
It took all of Harry's strength to prevent his jaw to fall open.  
  
"Aaron?!"  
  
Wenshore chuckled and once again stretched his arms out.  
  
"Yes. How do you like my appearance?"   
  
Draco stumbled away from him, his eyes glued at him. His heart nearly screamed to keep his eyes on Harry, but he fought the urge. He didn't know why Harry was here, how he had known that he was in danger, but he wouldn't be any help if he stood and stared just dumbly.  
  
He pushed the thought why this German was with Harry--and in such a state, with opened shirt and hair--into the back of his head. With that, he would deal later.  
  
"I think your outer appearance now matches with the state of your soul." Harry spat, swallowing the sick feeling in the back of his throat.   
  
Why was Aaron here in Hogwarts?  
  
How could he be into the most secured place in the entire world--as Hermione liked to tell everyone--and into Draco's room nonetheless?  
  
Never again, he would leave his wand in his room, he swore to himself.  
  
His eyes swept to Draco--and his heart ached in pain as he saw his bloody figure hunched over in pain, silver eyes focused on Aaron.  
  
Aaron chuckled. "My, my, you really have teeth, little kitten. How amusing."  
  
Harry gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that."  
  
"I can call you what I want, little kitten. And who do we have here?"  
  
Dead eyes wandered to Alex who just stood beside Harry, his light green eyes watching everything, but especially the torn figure of the man before him, with calmness.  
  
As he was spoken to, he just raised one eyebrow without saying anything.  
  
"A friend of you, kitten?"  
  
Harry growled at Aaron. What was with him making conversation when he obviously was here to kill Draco.  
  
"I won't let it happen!"  
  
A wide grin showed bloody teeth. "What, kitten? Coming here and kill my brother and his bonded? Obviously" He waved with the dagger in one hand, the blade dark with blood, "I can."  
  
// I need my wand!//  
  
He looked at Draco. He felt so much hate for Aaron, much more so than for Voldemort and he never had thought there could be an increase to that.  
  
There had to be a way to overpower Aaron without his wand. He hadn't his wand either, being in this body and shouldn't be able to do magic.   
  
They just had to rid him of the dagger and knock him unconscious.  
  
Harry winced as a new wave of pain jolted through him, a pained moan escaping his throat.  
  
Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Draco, kneeling on the ground, one hand pressed against his shoulder, new blood oozing over the fingers, colouring the light blue shirt black.  
  
"Well, that is interesting." Aaron said. Harry threw him a hated look. "It seems that the bond is stronger than I thought. You're already able to sense my brothers feelings."  
  
Draco's head rose in an instant. Harry smiled shakily at the slight shock, disbelief and proud ness in the silver eyes, feelings that he not only was able to see, but feel too.  
  
Thought all of it was overlaid with the stronger feeling of pain--and coldness.  
  
// I have to get him to Poppy. I have.//  
  
Harry's whole body tensed up as Aaron suddenly stepped before him, blocking his sight from Draco.  
  
"Maybe I will not kill you two." He smiled. "I think it will be more entertaining to watch how my little brother bleeds to death, taking you with him into death, kitten."  
  
He bowed slightly forward, one hand rising to touch Harry's cheek.  
  
"Even when it's a pity to waste such a beauty."  
  
Harry swat it away. Though in the second it was before his eyes, he could see that the nails were missing. All there was, was bloody flesh were once the nails had been.  
  
Like they had been ripped away from the fingers, in one forceful move.  
  
He swallowed, bile rising bitterly in his throat.  
  
Was had been done to the body that Aaron now was in?  
  
It seem to be just a ruin of what once had been a man.  
  
"That is Necromancy, isn't it?" A voice suddenly said.  
  
Both Aaron and Harry turned their heads.  
  
Alex smirked at the both of them and put a hand on his hip, a pure picture of relaxing, before he started to speak in a lecturing voice, as if standing before a class where he was the teacher.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that this body is death. There is no sign of living in it and with all this wounds; I doubt that somebody would be still alive. And there is this aura." Light green eyes narrowed a bit, surveying the body of the old man. "It's kind of dark, lifeless. A zombie."  
  
Harry couldn't help but to shudder. He only knew Zombies from the silly horror films that Dudley always used to watch when his parents weren't at home.  
  
However, he never--even with all the creatures he knew now existed because of magic-- would have thought that such a soulless creature could be real also.  
  
Aaron straighten up, interest in his voice as he eyed the boy.  
  
"You are very smart, boy."  
  
"That's true. Moreover, because of that I know that no magic will work on a dead body. So, even when Harry here would have had his wand with him, it wouldn't bring him anything."  
  
Harry frowned. How did he know that he hadn't his wand with him? It could also be that he had hidden it somewhere in his robe.  
  
Alex looked at Harry and winked at his puzzled expression. His eyes sparkled with mirth, adding just to his carefree attitude as if there weren't a dark creature before him and a bleeding boy in the room.  
  
"I felt that you don't have your wand with you when I put my arm around on the way here. It gave me quite a chance to search for anything under your robe."  
  
Harry felt how his face heated up, half in embarrassment, half in anger. He had felt Alex shifting his grip while he helped him, but he had thought that the other boy had searched for a better place to hold him up. That he had done it on purpose, to grope him.  
  
In addition, that he just stood there without helping in any way--  
  
Aaron let out a snicker as green eyes stared angrily at Alex.  
  
"I so love it when friends start to fight with…."  
  
His neck gave a sickening crack as his head flew forcefully to the side, causing him to stumble backwards.  
  
Harry gasped and cradled his hand in the other, cursing slightly over the sharp pain rising in his sore knuckles. As if he wasn't in enough pain already, but he never would have thought that it would hurt so much to hit somebody. It had felt as if he had hit a wall made of granite.  
  
Not that he had thought that he would attack somebody with just his fist ever.  
  
He looked at the zombie that was Aaron's host for now, sucking on his burning knuckles, grimacing at the taste of blood.  
  
It took the creature awhile to regain its balance. Slowly it turned back towards Harry.  
  
"I never thought that you could be so brutal, kitten. When I would be in my own body I would have been very angry, but because its not so I forgive you. But I think you need to learn a lesson."  
  
Dead eyes narrowed slightly--and without him doing anything, Harry suddenly felt a touch on his right cheek, tender and soft.  
  
Aaron grinned as Harry's eyes widened. "You feel this, don't you? And I bet you wonder how I do this, standing several feet away from you."  
  
Harry clenched his hands to fist, burying his nails into his palm, as the touch wandered down to his neck, slowly and teasing. He wouldn't give Aaron the satisfaction to ask how he did this.   
  
He hadn't giving in to Voldemort and he wouldn't give in to one of his followers.  
  
He just had to find a way to--  
  
A startled gasp escaped him as suddenly the touch was on his belly, there were the tattoo was.  
  
"You know, kitten." Aaron explained, sounding extremely satisfied with himself. "I have a power which you wouldn't understand even when I would explain it to you. Just that much: there is no chance that you could defeat me with your weak magic ability. I freed myself from the bonds that the magic nowadays lays upon oneself. I'm free of them and can do what I want. I even--"  
  
The touch got more intensive, like fingertips pressing into the silk flesh of his belly.   
  
Harry winced, but remained silent otherwise, glaring at Aaron.   
  
"I even could rape you now without even touching you." Aaron continued, chuckling at the hate in the beautiful green eyes.  
  
A sudden rush of hate and rage coursed through Harry, causing him to double over in pain.  
  
"Don't you dare touch him, Aaron!" Draco screamed. He grabbed onto the back of the couch, trying to lift himself from the ground, but his weak legs refused to carry him.  
  
Harry could see the long legs tremble under Draco's desperate tries to stand up and could feel the frustration and anger as the blond slipped back to the ground, panting heavily.  
  
Before he even recognized that he had moved he was at Draco's side, his arms around the blond, steadying him before he could fall down completely.  
  
Silver eyes met his just inches from apart from each other.  
  
Harry had the feeling to drown into these silver depths, forgetting everything else around him.  
  
A mock coo from behind him tore him out of it.   
  
"Ahhh isn't this sweet. The two lovebirds. How glad you must be to die together."  
  
Harry turned his head and just continued to glare at Aaron. In him, he felt so helpless like never before. He could feel how Draco was getting weaker with every second they were here, not being able to went past Aaron.   
  
Why couldn't he overcome Aaron? They had to be something he could do even without his wand--which wouldn't help him even when he had it when Alex was telling the truth.  
  
Something.   
  
Anything.  
  
He tightened his grip on Draco, trying to ignore the fact that just he was holding the blond up. That without him Draco would have slumped to the ground.  
  
Harry's eyes widened as he hear a voice talk in his mind--his own voice.  
  
// I can't loose him. I can't.//  
  
"I can't." He mumbled staring at Aaron.  
  
A wicked grin appeared on the face of the zombie.  
  
"That's right, little kitten. You can't do anything to stop me."  
  
Slowly he raised the bloody dagger and pointed its tip against Harry and Draco.  
  
Harry could only stare.  
  
************************************************************************************  
  
I just couldn't find an end for this chapter so I let it end here. Aren't I bad?   
  
Well I hope you like it. Tell me when there are things that make no sense and I will correct them. Oh, and don't forget to review, okay? 


	17. chapter 17

Disclaimer: No, not mine. Just a few characters are mine.  
  
A/N: Hey people. *looks past a big shield. Some daggers are embedded in the metal of the shield* It is good to see you again. Moreover, I loved it to see that you love my other story as well. So you can congratulate yourself: I will continue writing it. I received enough reviews to keep me going.  
  
*looks at the reviews she got for Love and Destiny and then on the ones she got for BHaH* In fact, I got more for my new story. Hmmm…..  
  
Oh, by the way. Sorry for the shield. But I have to protect myself. *winks* Hello, Alyannah. *I hope I wrote this in the right way*  
  
Oh, I opened an account *is it called that?* on www.deviantart.com. There I will put my drawings and I will write there when I will update my stories. When you want to know how long a chapter will take look there. My name on deviant art is Pixie Distelblum.  
  
Enjoy this chapter.  
  
*Gruesse an meine deutschen Leser. Es ist schoen zu wissen das ich welche habe.*  
  
*********  
  
Chapter 7  
  
*********  
  
Draco's face looked peaceful and beautiful, pale even against the white pillow and his usually neat blond hair lay unruly around his head. In addition, the white light in the Hospital wing made him look even paler. Deathly pale.  
  
Narcissa Malfoy hated the light. Before anyone around her could react, she lifted her wand and muttered a quick spell. At once, the light changed into a soft light orange colour.  
  
Narcissa just shrugged at the raised eyebrows she received and stepped at Draco's side. Soft and carefully, her fingers touched one high cheekbone.  
  
"Your son lost a lot of blood, but I was able to replace it." Madame Pomfrey murmured her eyes slightly narrowed because of the change in her place. However, her eyes were gentle as she looked down onto her patient. "He will feel weak for the next couple of days and shouldn't exhaust himself."  
  
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey." Lucius smiled at her, but his face was overshadowed with weariness and worry. Nevertheless, in his silver eyes glowered a hidden anger as they were lying on his motionless son.  
  
Narcissa felt her heart reaching out to him. She knew he tried to hide his feelings from her, but after the long years of them being together she had learned how she to hinder him closing the bound between them. Of course, it helped that she felt the same as him--despair and fear about what could have happened.  
  
Today they could have lost the only son that they still had.  
  
Lucius lifted his gaze and met hers, slightly smiling as he felt her in his mind. For every other person it was a cold smile, but for Narcissa it was not only the smile, but also the love she felt to the bond that made this smile warmer than anything else did.  
  
"Well, this are very good information." Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them together as if they were cold. "And I think Mr and Mrs Malfoy want to be alone with their son for a while."  
  
A satisfied smile appeared on his face as Narcissa and Lucius nodded. Blue eyes twinkled in their usual way. "Good. Then I will leave you now. However, I wish to talk to you before you return to your home. Could you come to my office when you're ready?"  
  
Lucius nodded. "We will come."  
  
Dumbledore smiled again. "Good. Good."  
  
He looked at Snape and Madame Pomfrey and just nodded, before he turned and left the Hospital wing with long steps, quietly muttering to himself. Never before had anyone in the room seen him walk in such a hurry before.   
  
With silence between them, all turned their eyes back to the sleeping Malfoy heir.  
  
Tenderly Narcissa brushed a bang of disarrayed blond hair out of her sons face.  
  
"When will he wake up?" She asked, not taking her eyes from his face. She felt a longing in her to see the amazing silver eyes again that her beloved Lucius had to his son.  
  
With a thoughtful expression, Madame Pomfrey laid one hand carefully on Draco's forehead.  
  
"It is possible that he wakes up tomorrow morning, not earlier. He is weak and needs his sleep."  
  
Narcissa swallowed a sigh. She had hoped that Draco just slept for a few hours, so that she could talk to him. Now she had to wait.  
  
"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey. I appreciate it that you care for my son so much."  
  
The school nurse returned her smile and nodded.  
  
"You don't have to thank me. Now excuse me. I have work to do."  
  
With another smile to the two men, she turned and walked to her rooms in the back of the hospital wing. Three pair of eyes followed her until the door closed.  
  
Snape stepped to the foot end of the bed and looked down at his favourite student.  
  
"Well, that was to expect. The wound was not that deep, but he had lost a lot of blood because nobody could attend to it." Snape face darkened and his hands tightened around the bedstead. "He was lucky that he didn't die. Just a little while longer and it would have been to late for him."  
  
Narcissa nodded, shuddering from the thought. Just a bit longer and she would have lost her son.  
  
"It was close. Too close. When Harry hadn't……" She stopped, suddenly remembering something. Her eyes searched the room for the person she missed.   
  
"By the way. Where is Harry?"  
  
To her totally surprise a slight blush appeared on Snape's pale face. She shared a puzzled look with her husband. Who would have thought that the cold Potion Professor was even able to blush?  
  
"Do you know where Harry is?" Lucius asked his mouth slightly curved up in a smile.  
  
Snape shook his head to get rid of the blush. "Well, yes I know. Right now he has detention with Filch."  
  
Only her amusement prevented Narcissa's mouth to fall open in surprise.  
  
"Detention? What did he do?"  
  
Snape's sigh was deep.  
  
*****Flashback*****  
  
"Time for you to die, little kitten. Say goodbye to this world."  
  
The sharp blade aimed at the stunned Harry who could just stare at the man who would kill him.  
  
//And I always thought I would be killed by Voldemort.//  
  
\\ Will you just sit there and do nothing?!\\  
  
"What?"  
  
Harry's eyes widened in shock at the sudden voice in his head--and at the same time he could make out a slight light blue barrier surrounding Draco and him, just second before the blade came in contact with it.  
  
Bright sparks flew up where the dagger had hit. A sound like metal hitting metal was heard, echoing through the room.  
  
After that, silence, just shortly interrupted from the sound of the dagger skittering over the ground until it was stopped from the fur before the fireplace.  
  
A small chuckle reminded everyone of the third person in the room. All eyes turned to Alex still standing just steps before the open door, one of his hands raised.   
  
Harry's eyes widened as he noticed a slight blue shimmer surrounding the hand. Just like the barrier that had protected him.  
  
Alex winked at the surprised looks. "Did I surprise you? I just couldn't help it. I always wanted to be the saviour that appears in the last minute to save the princess." He shrugged and lowered his hand. The blue light vanished from him and around Harry at the same time. "About the fact that Harry is no princess we shouldn't fight."  
  
Harry's hold on Draco's limp form tightened, but he didn't notice. All he could do was stare at the German boy as a new wave of anger rose in him.   
  
The dead body that Aaron possessed let out a laugh, however there was no amusement in it. The lifeless eyes were hard as they sized Aaron up.  
  
"So, it really is true. Instead of wands you use other objects in Germany."  
  
Alex grinned and lifted his arm, and for the first time everybody could see a silver bracelet around his slender wrist.   
  
"Well, you're right with the fact that I use a bracelet to focus my magic instead of a wand. However, you're wrong when you think everybody in Germany does it. This special use of jewellery you can only learn in Loreley."  
  
He put his hands onto his hips and a slight frown appeared on his forehead.  
  
"However, now we are in a really complicated situation. You want to kill Harry over there, but I can protect him with my magic. Moreover, before you think about attacking me, I better tell you that I can't just protect one person at the same time. Also, what do we do now?"  
  
Aaron stared at him--and then let out a low chuckle. "Impressive, boy. Very impressive. I must remember to visit your school some time. Nevertheless, I'm not that dumb as you seem to believe I am. Truly, you can protect the little kitten as long as you want, but do I have to remember you that my little brother is wounded, slowly bleeding to death? He will not take any longer, so I just have to wait, you know."  
  
A puzzled look appeared in Alex's eyes.  
  
"Oh, I see that you don't know what that means." Aaron spread the arms of the zombie. "Then let me inform you that……."  
  
A loud scream full of anger and hate interrupted him. Alex's eyes widened in shocked surprise and sensing something behind him Aaron turned around--and was hit in the side of the head with such force he fell backwards on his back.  
  
With similar surprise that Alex had felt he then stared up at Harry, standing over him with a poker in his hands, green eyes blazing with hate.  
  
"Who would have thought that?" He chuckled amused. "The little kitten shows his teeth."  
  
Letting out another scream Harry raised the poker another time. A sickening sound filled the air.  
  
Alex turned his head away, fighting against the urge to throw up his lunch. As he opened them again he saw Harry standing before him, his face pale and his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.  
  
"Harry, that was……."  
  
Alex never could end his sentence, Harry's fist connecting with his jaw throwing him backwards to the ground--in front of the feet of a shocked looking Professor Snape.  
  
*****End Flashback*******  
  
A loud sneeze interrupted the silence, just barely covered from a hand raised to late. Soft laughter erupted from the few students in the room, however one stern look from Madame Pince silenced them quickly.   
  
Harry flinched as the stern look was directed at him after that and hurried to continue putting the books back into the shelf; he just had cleaned from seemingly year old dust. It was harder than he had expected to get the books to keep standing when the shelf wasn't completely filled. Every time he leaned down to lift another couple of books the ones already standing kept falling to the side.  
  
And there he had thought helping in the library would be an easy detention. He never had been so wrong.   
  
"This is all just keeping me from Draco's side." Harry leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the shelf, closing his eyes. He remembered how pale Draco had looked as he was finally being brought to the Hospital Wing from a shocked and worried Professor Snape. As if he had been dead already.  
  
He shook his head and clenched his fists. And because he had loosed the connecting through the bond he couldn't even feel how he was right now. If he was awake or if he still was unconscious. Why had Snape given him the Detention for now? Couldn't he have waited until Draco was awake?  
  
Harry fought the longing in him, however he couldn't ignore that it was there, hurting as an open wound.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Gently two hands touched his shoulder, one on each side. With a deep sigh, Harry let out all the stiffness from his body and leaned into the hold of the hands.  
  
"Ron. Hermione." He mumbled and the grip on his shoulders tightened for a moment. Then he turned around to look as his best friends since the first year.  
  
Ron wore a wide relieved grin on his face, while Hermione's face was darkened with a frown, her eyes scanning his face.  
  
"We're so glad that nothing happened to you, mate. After we heard about the attack and that someone was brought to the Hospital Wing, we thought it was you."  
  
Harry tried to smile. "I'm okay. I wasn't hurt. Draco is the one who was wounded."  
  
// And I'm here, instead of sitting by his side.//  
  
Ron's grin vanished and he opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Harry could see how Hermione placed her elbow in Ron's side, causing him to doubling over a bit.  
  
He frowned. What was that about? Why had Hermione stopped Ron to say something?  
  
For the first time ever Harry felt like his two friends shared a secret that they didn't want to share with him. It hurt; however hadn't he done the same thing about his relationship with Draco. He could have told them before they had come to Hogwarts or when he had greeted them when they arrived. But he hadn't.   
  
His friends had all rights to keep a secret to themselves. But it hurt nonetheless.  
  
"What I would like to know, is, how the person that attacked you was able to enter Hogwarts after all. Hogwarts is the safest place in all England."  
  
Obviously it was not when it came to Aaron Malfoy, but Harry kept this thought to himself. He had no right to tell his friends about Draco's older brother. However, he could tell them, with a few exceptions of course, what had happened. Maybe Hermione even could help him with a few questions that he had since then.  
  
"I think we should go to one of the table in the back." He murmured. He glanced at Madame Pince. She was busy at her desk, occasionally glaring at a few one years at a table in the middle of the library.   
  
As silently as they could the three sneaked to the back of the library, where there stood one big table under one of the windows. It was seldom that one of the students came here, so that they mustn't worry that someone listened into them talking.  
  
With a deep sigh, Harry let himself fall into one seat. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until now. Slowly he could feel his shoulders starting to hurt; it was like a warm glowing in his muscles with the difference that it wasn't a comfortable feeling.  
  
Hermione sat herself opposite him. In her eyes, he could clearly see that she wanted answers.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Harry took a deep breath, before he started to tell his best friends what exactly had happened the day before just leaving out the fact that the attacker had been Draco's older brother.  
  
When he was finished, Harry slumped back in his seat, waiting for his friends to react.   
  
Hermione was the first to break the silence around them.  
  
"This man really used necromancy?" She asked, leaning forward with a well-known gleam in her eyes.  
  
Harry nodded. "Do you know something about it?"  
  
"Not much." She shrugged. "Necromancy isn't part of the magic we know and learn about in Hogwarts. And even books about it are very rare and nearly impossible to get without a lot of money."  
  
An angry light appeared in Hermione's eyes, clearly directed at the fact that there were books that she couldn't read, causing Harry and Ron to share a slightly amused look.   
  
"And of course, books about necromancy are also forbidden." Hermione added, glaring at her friends after she had noticed their shared look.  
  
Surprised Ron's eyebrows shot up. "When they are forbidden, how did this Alex guy know about it?"  
  
"Maybe because those books are not forbidden in a certain private school." An amused sounding voice said.  
  
All three flinched and turned around at the same time.  
  
Alex Lange grinned and waved at them, lazily leaning against a shelf.  
  
"Hello."  
  
Harry kept silent, glaring at the other boy, while his friends breathed out a 'Hello'. He felt as if he was burning with hate and he needed all his self-control not to jump up and run away. He never wanted to see the German again and surely, he didn't want to talk to him.  
  
To his dismay, he noticed Hermione eyeing the red-blonde curiously, interest shining in her eyes.  
  
"Are to trying to say that you can read such books in your school?"  
  
Alex grin widened and ignoring the glare out of green eyes, he pushed himself away from the shelf and stepped forward until he stood before their table.   
  
"Well, not everybody. You have to choose a special class and then you are allowed to get into the restricted area of our library where the books about necromancy are." With a smooth motion, he let himself fall into the seat beside Harry. "And I can tell you, the authors of this books knew what they were writing about."  
  
Hermione's excitement was shining out of her eyes. Eagerly she leaned forward.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes in Harry's direction, but he didn't notice it.   
  
"So, you know about necromancy. You can tell me about it. I've waited so long for the chance of getting more information about it."  
  
"Sure, I could tell you about it. That would help you to understand your enemy, too." Relaxed Alex leaned back, a satisfied smile on his lips. "But of course there has to be a little incentive for me to tell you. There is a lot to tell and explain."  
  
Suspiciously, Harry looked at him. What did he want now? Not that it surprised him after what had happened in Draco's rooms.  
  
"A little incentive?" Ron asked, seemingly sharing Harry distrust as he eyed the other boy. "And what do you want? Shall we go to the kitchens and get you something or what?"  
  
"No, nothing like that. But something equal sweet." With a bright smile, Alex turned around and gazed at Harry, who returned his look with glowing eyes. "As incentive I want a kiss. A kiss from you, Harry."  
  
For a moment Harry thought he hadn't heard right. Speechless he sat in his seat, staring at Alex, while his words continued to repeat themselves in his head. Then their meaning finally hit him.  
  
"You want what?!" Harry screamed, jumping to his feet.   
  
"Harry. Not so loud." Hermione admonished.  
  
Harry ignored her. Panting he stood before Alex, who still sat relaxed on his seat, meeting Harry's anger filled eyes with his own calm ones. How could he demand such a thing?  
  
"You have to be crazy when you think that I would kiss you after what you've done yesterday. Or rather haven't done."   
  
"Harry." Hermione stood up and took Harry's hand, trying to pull him away from Alex, but Harry freed himself from her grip without looking.  
  
Alex chuckled and slowly rose until he stood before Harry. "You're right. That's want I want. And you have no other choice when you really want to know about Necromancy. So, what is it?"  
  
Harry opened his mouth to tell Alex what he could do with his knowledge; however before he could say a thing Hermione grabbed him and pulled him toward her.  
  
"Harry, don't do anything stupid." Hermione whispered urgently. "Listen, he is the only one we can ask about Necromancy and we can't loose this chance."  
  
Harry snorted, not bothering to keep his voice down. "You mean you can't loose the chance. However, we don't know if he is the only one who can tell us. What's with the other three that came with him? Maybe they know about Necromancy, too."  
  
"They don't." Alex answered, watching them both. Harry shuddered in disgust as he noticed the hungry gleam in the light green eyes. "I'm the only one from us four that studies Necromancy."  
  
"What a coincidence." Harry spat. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I pass. I try my luck elsewhere."  
  
"Harry!" Hermione protested. "Who do you want to ask? There is nobody who will answer our questions. Just do it and then we will know everything what your Attacker knows. It's only a kiss."  
  
Harry whirled around, forcing his arm out of Hermione's grip.   
  
"Then why don't you do it?" He hissed, before hurrying away from his friends and Alex Lange.  
  
His friends watched him as he vanished between the shelves, shocked about his behaviour.  
  
After a speechless minute, Ron jumped up as well. Until now he had just watched, torn between his own shock about what Alex wanted his best friend to do and the fact that they needed the information from the German.  
  
"I will follow him." He announced and without awaiting an answer he run after Harry.  
  
Hermione just let out a deep sigh and fell back into her seat.  
  
"He changed so much." She whispered. Moreover, she knew who had caused this change in one of her best friend. However, she would make sure that wouldn't last long. Soon the potion would be ready and then……  
  
Slowly she raised her head and looked at Alex. Maybe she could even……  
  
"Say, what would you say to another arrangement between us?"  
  
Alex raised one eyebrow. "I'm listening."  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
"Harry!"  
  
Harry ignored the call and continued hurrying down the corridor.   
  
"Damn, Harry, wait up!"  
  
From one moment to the other Harry stopped and whirled around, glaring at Ron, who stumbled, surprised about the sudden stop. He raised both hands, gasping slightly from his run.  
  
"Man, Harry. Don't look at me like that. I'm your friend."  
  
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. But it wasn't easy. There was so much anger in him.   
  
"I know, Ron. I'm just so mad at……at the whole situation."  
  
He shook his head and slowly started to walk again.  
  
Ron followed him. "I can't say that I understand what you mean, mate. I mean, we have to know about this Dark Magic stuff and he just wants a kiss. What's so bad about it? I mean, it would not be your first kiss, wouldn't it."  
  
Harry fought down a new wave of anger. First Hermione and now Ron. Why couldn't his friends see that it mattered, at least for him?  
  
"No, Ron, it would not be my first kiss. But that's not why I'm so angry. First, I can't kiss Alex, because I don't like him. Yesterday he just stood there while I tried to save Draco. He just stood there. And second……"  
  
A light blush blossomed on Harry's cheeks and he stopped. He couldn't tell Ron. He wouldn't understand.   
  
With a deep sigh, Harry shook his head and looked at the confused Redhead. "I can't explain so that you would understand me. So, just go back to Hermione and tell her I'm sorry, okay? We will find another possibility to get the information we need."  
  
This time Ron just stood there and watched as Harry turned and walked away from him the second time.   
  
"What's wrong with you, Harry?"  
  
*********Flasback*********************************************************************  
  
Dumbly Harry stared down at Alex Lange. He couldn't think straight any more. His head was hammering with pain and even the slightest movement awoke a new wave, nearly blinding him.  
  
"Mr Potter. What is the meaning of this?"  
  
Groaning slightly Harry raised his eyes and looked at Professor Snape standing in the doorway, his dark eyes wide in shock.  
  
Harry opened his mouth to explain--how should he explain?--but a light moan from behind him cleared his head of all thoughts expect one.  
  
Draco.  
  
From one moment to the other Harry hurried to the side of the blond still lying beside the couch. The ground around him was covered in blood like his shirt and trousers, but Harry didn't mind and kneed beside him.   
  
"Draco?" He asked, hesitantly reaching out a trembling hand and brushing away some hair. Tears gathered in his eyes, but he ignored it.  
  
Pain filled silver eyes opened just an inch, looking up at him with a slight distant look in them.   
  
"Draco?"  
  
A bloodied hand rose slowly and touched Harry's cheek. Harry's grabbed it and held it close, smiling at the silver eyes.  
  
"Don't worry, Draco. We will get you to Hospital Wing and there Madame Pomfrey will have you up again in no time."  
  
A slight smile appeared on pale lips. Then the silver eyes began to close again and to Harry's fear he felt how the connection between Draco and him vanished. In panic, he grasped one cold hand in his both of his.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
A chilling cold spread out in him, letting him shiver inside.   
  
He looked down at the closed eyes, fighting for every breath.  
  
"Draco!"  
  
*****End Flasback*******************************************************************  
  
As careful as he could Harry touched the pale face before him, marvelling in the warmth radiating from it. It wasn't much, but for him it warmed him more than any blanket.   
  
It showed that Draco was still alive.  
  
Silently Harry shifted his gaze to the two sleeping figures with him in the room. Lucius Malfoy sat on one chair on the other side of the bed, leaning against the back and on his lap, her head on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around him sat Narcissa. Both were sleeping peacefully, but Harry could see the worry in their faces.  
  
When they would wake up in the morning they surely would be stiff from this kind of sleeping arrangement.  
  
With a content sigh, Harry shifted his gaze to their son again and leaned his head down to place a soft kiss on Draco's brow.  
  
"I even can't understand it myself." He whispered, leaning his cheek against one of Draco's. "I can't understand it. But what happened yesterday finally showed me what I feel."  
  
Harry closed his eyes and lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "I love you, Draco Malfoy."  
  
***********************************************************************************  
  
Well, Harry finally said the three magic words. However, Draco is asleep, so he couldn't hear it. Or is he? *Looks at her writing* Well, I really can't decide if I like what I wrote. I hope you like it. In the next chapter, there will be some happy fluffy times for Draco and Harry. It's time for that.   
  
And what are Hermione and Alex planning? I know it, but you have to wait. Just that much--it won't be pretty for Draco and Harry. Please don't forget to review.  
  
Bye. 


	18. chapter 18

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never will be.  
  
A/N: Will it help if I say I'm sorry. I hope so. I'M SORRY. Forgive me. But I had been so excited that I would journey to London that I couldn't concentrate on writing anything. But finally here it is. The new chapter. Hope you like it.  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Harry pressed his face against Draco's neck, deeply breathing in the unique scent of the blond.   
  
"I love you, Draco."   
  
Harry couldn't prevent a light chuckle to escape his lips. "Even when I can't imagine how I could fall for such an arrogant Slytherin."  
  
"You fell victim to my great charm and beauty." A tired voice whispered beside his ear, warm breath tingling his skin.   
  
Harry's whole body tensed up. Slowly and careful he lifted his head up and to the side--and met the amused gaze out of sleepy silver eyes just inches from his own. Silver eyes that he had feared he would never see again.  
  
"Draco……"  
  
A huge wave of relief swept over Harry. Draco was awake and he was okay--and he had heard what he had said.  
  
In sudden embarrassment Harry felt how his face heated up in a fierce blush.   
  
"You heard me?"  
  
Draco's eyes softened and Harry had the feeling of loosing himself in the silver depths. He shivered. How was it that he never before had noticed how expressive these beautiful eyes were?  
  
Draco raised one hand and gently placed it on Harry's cheek. He smiled as the black haired boy leaned into the touch.  
  
"Don't be embarrassed." He winked teasingly. "I told you that you would fall for me sooner or later. You never had a chance."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, cursing his red cheeks. "Aren't we a bit too self confidant, Malfoy?"  
  
Draco smirked. "No. A Malfoy always gets what he wants. I always knew you would fall in love with me."  
  
Harry shook his head and took Draco's hand in his, bringing it to his lap where he held it softly in his.  
  
"Then you knew more than me."  
  
He was so glad that Draco was okay. However, he wished the giddy feeling in him would disappear. He felt as if he had been hit with a Cheering Charm and he needed all his self-control not to start to giggle like crazy. Maybe he should ask Madame Pomfrey if she could help him.  
  
A touch on his face brought Harry away from his thoughts. Confused he looked from Draco to the hand slowly shifting to the back of his neck.  
  
"What……"  
  
Draco smirked and winked, before he used his hold on Harry's neck to bring him down to his face--and his waiting mouth.  
  
Harry moaned as he felt the soft lips on his own, gently stroking his in a slow motion. It took him just seconds before he returned the kiss, letting himself fall into Draco's touch, scent and taste, forgetting everything else around him.   
  
After some time Harry broke away from the kiss, panting, silently cursing his need to breath. Draco smiled down at him and it confused Harry before he noticed that he lay on the bed on his back, the Blond halfway lying on him.  
  
He frowned. How had Draco managed that without him noticing?  
  
Draco chuckled and leaned his forehead against Harry's. "I'm a better kisser than I thought. I bet I could do everything do you without you even noticing, as long as I don't stop kissing you."  
  
Harry huffed and tried to sit up, however Draco's weight prevented nearly every movement.  
  
"You just surprised me. And now let me go. You are wounded and should rest."  
  
Draco raised one eyebrow and Harry felt a blush adding itself to his already flushed face as he found himself caught under the steady silver gaze. And it didn't help that his own body was relishing in the warmth and the touch of the blond. It……he was craving for every single touch.  
  
He had been touched so seldom in his life, touched like someone cared for him. Maybe it was because of this lack of that he hadn't fought against Draco's advances like he should have.  
  
In addition--in the short moments in which Harry had felt Draco through the bond he had felt that the feelings of the Slytherin were true once. Draco truly loved him. Even when he couldn't believe that someone could love him like that.  
  
Harry sighed deeply and let his body relax.  
  
"You really should rest, Draco." He whispered, carefully laying one hand on Draco's shoulder were the knife wound had been. He knew that Madame Pomfrey had healed the wound, but he could feel a bandage under his fingers to protect the still tender skin. It had been so close.  
  
A soft glow appeared in Draco's eyes.   
  
"Don't worry. I'm okay." He covered Harry's hand with his own and gently held it against his shoulder as the other boy made a movement to take it away.  
  
Harry stared at the hand on his own. Draco's hand was bigger than his own, his fingers longer and more elegant. Once he had seen the hands of a musician who played piano. Draco's fingers were just like his had been.  
  
He swallowed. "You nearly died. And it was just because I felt your pain through the suddenly awakened bound that I could come to you." His face darkened and he turned his eyes away. "Not that I could help you."  
  
He hadn't been able to do anything to help Draco. He had been so helpless without his wand and in front of a creature created by a magic he never knew existed. He felt so helpless, more so than when he had faced Voldemort last year.  
  
The grip of Draco's hand tightened around his. "Don't dare to think that what happened is your fault. I know that you have the habit to blame yourself for everything bad happening. But this had nothing to do with you. This is just between my brother and me."  
  
"I couldn't do anything to help you."  
  
"Do you think I could?" Draco shook his head and rolled down from Harry, sitting up. His movements were slower than usual, showing the exhaustion the blond must feel. "I let myself hurt because I was to shocked to move when I saw an old friend attack me. Poor old Wenshore."  
  
Shocked Harry sat up. He never had thought that Draco……  
  
"You knew him?!"  
  
He remembered the open wounds on the possessed body, wounds that just came from torture. What had the old man gone through before he had died? And how cruel was Aaron to send his own brother the murdered body of a friend to kill him.  
  
Draco nodded slowly. His face was calm, but Harry could see anger glowing in the depth of the silver eyes.   
  
"Wenshore had served our family for many years. He was there as long as I can remember and helped to raise me." A shudder went through the slender body and before Harry could decide otherwise he took one of Draco's hands in his and held it between his own.   
  
"He was the one who told me about the article." Draco whispered, gently squeezing Harry's hand. "I asked him to get it from the Daily Prophet before they could publish it." He sighed. "Obviously he couldn't prevent it. I'm sorry, Harry."  
  
Harry tried to swallow the sudden dryness of his throat away.   
  
"He was the servant you mentioned on top of the tower?"  
  
Draco nodded, his gaze locked on Harry, waiting for his reaction. "Yes. But you have to understand that I asked him to do it, it wasn't an order. He wanted to help you and me."  
  
Harry closed his burning eyes. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't.  
  
Gently Draco wiped a lone tear away that had escaped one green eye.   
  
"Wenshore was always against Voldemort, even at the time when my father served the Dark Lord." Draco whispered in a soothing voice, leaning his forehead against Harry's. "He always fought against him as good as he could and was aware that someday he would die."  
  
A low chuckle escaped the blond Slytherin, but Harry could feel the wetness of tears on his cheeks that weren't his. Draco was crying?  
  
Carefully he lifted his hands and slung them tightly around Draco's neck, bringing his own body nearer to the other, searching for its warmth. Without a word and without hesitating Draco returned the desperate hug, and with his arms locked around Harry's waist, he lowered them both onto the bed until they were lying side by side.  
  
"He was aware that he would die, but he continued fighting with all his might." Draco continued his voice muffled where his face was buried in Harry's neck. The only indication to that he was crying was the wetness Harry felt on his skin. But he didn't mind. He just held tighter onto the other boy.  
  
"You can't imagine how happy he was when he had heard that you killed Voldemort. My father told me he took me in his arms and danced around the room with me, glad that I would grow up in a world without Voldemort. And then He came back last year……"  
  
A choked sob escaped Draco, stealing every word from his lips. Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in soft blonde hair, trying to comfort the other boy in his grief as well as he could.  
  
"Do you think he will like it?" Someone whispered. Low rustle was heard.  
  
"Of course. How could he not like them? They are adorable." A voice whispered back, followed from giggles.  
  
"And even when he wouldn't like them; we can't stop it anymore. We never had such luck before."  
  
"Yes that's true."  
  
"So it is decided. We will show them to him tomorrow before classes."  
  
It was a tired Ron Weasley who fell into the cushion of the couch with a low exhausted moan.  
  
"And?" Hermione asked, without taking her eyes away from the book in her lap. She ignored the moans coming from the Redhead and just sat more comfortable in the loveseat before the fireplace, relishing the warmth of the crackling fire.  
  
With great effort Ron lifted his head, red hair looking as if it never had seen a brush. Weary eyes locked on the relaxed Hermione.  
  
"I couldn't find him. And I searched everywhere, expect the places you forbid me to go."  
  
"Good. That means he his in the infirmary or in the private rooms of Malfoy."  
  
Ron's head sunk back onto the couch. He sighed. "You know. I have thought about what we want do to." Her murmured, interrupting the silence between them.  
  
Hermione looked up from her book. One eyebrow rose in mock surprise.  
  
Ron ignored her look. "Do you really think we should do this? "  
  
With a resolute movement the bushy haired girl closed her book. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, shouldn't we let Harry make his own decision? What when he really loves Malfoy?"  
  
"Do you really think so? I can imagine that Harry fell in love with Malfoy--he is good looking, after all. But I can't imagine, even in my dreams that Malfoy could truly love Harry. That would mean that he had to change his whole behaviour, would have to change the things he believes in." She shook her head. "He can never be something else then a bloody pureblood loving Slytherin."  
  
Ron sat up to face her. "But what we want to do is……"  
  
"We are doing the right thing, Ron, don't worry." Hermione interrupted, leaning forward to touch his arm. "Soon Harry will be with us again."  
  
She smiled happily that let her brown eyes shine and stood up. "And then it will be like in old times. But now we have to go to bed. We have classes tomorrow. Goodnight, Ron. And stop worrying, okay?"  
  
Obediently Ron nodded. Silently he watched Hermione climbing up the stairs to the dorms of the girls, the book under one arm. Then he let out a deep sigh and fell back into the cushions, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
"I really don't think we're doing the right thing." He whispered. "And I think you are a bit to obsessed with the whole thing, too, Hermione."  
  
He shook his head. He really didn't know what he should do. Hermione was his best friend and he didn't want to refuse her his help, but Harry was his friend, too. And he always had the opinion that the black haired boy, who was his friend since the first year, knew what he was doing.   
  
"Argh." Frustrated with himself and the whole situation Ron jumped up and ran to his room.  
  
"Harry."  
  
It was warm and comfortable, surrounding him completely. He didn't want to leave here.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Harry frowned and buried deeper into the warmth, trying to escape the annoying voice. Why couldn't they leave him alone.  
  
"Harry!" The voice sounded more desperate--and more familiar. He knew the voice. He really liked its owner. Maybe he should wake up to please the speaker?  
  
"Harry, come on, wake up." A hand touched his shoulder, slightly shaking him.  
  
Fighting himself out of his slumber Harry groaned and turning his head he opened his eyes wearily. He blinked into the brightness of the light streaming through the windows--the light of a new day--until his eyes managed to focus onto the face hovering over him.  
  
Green eyes widened in surprise.   
  
"Ron?"  
  
A somewhat forced half smile appeared on Ron Weasley's face. He withdrew his hand from Harry's shoulder and watched as the shorter boy sat up.  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
Harry noticed that the Redhead avoided to look at the sleeping blond beside him and swallowed a sigh.  
  
Careful he slung his arms around his knees and caught Ron's wandering gaze with his own.  
  
"And?"  
  
Ron lifted his shoulders in a helpless gesture.   
  
"Listen, Harry." He began in a low voice. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have said the things I said and I'm sorry that I didn't believe your feelings for Malfoy were sincerely. It's still hard to believe." He added, this time staring at the sleeping figure of the Slytherin.   
  
Harry followed his gaze and couldn't help but to smile at the relaxed face of Draco. A few wayward strands of his hair hung into his face, giving him an adorable ruffled look.  
  
From the corner of his eyes Harry saw a shudder ran through Ron's body as he tenderly brushed the hair away.  
  
"Did you think I weren't shocked, too, as I learned this new feelings Draco had for me? I was angry that he did that to me, confused that someone even could have those kind of feelings for me and a lot more feelings were battling in me from the time I met him at the train just three weeks ago."  
  
Harry lifted his eyes to Ron, standing there and listening to him.   
  
"But can you imagine the confusion, the fear I felt when suddenly I discovered that I didn't hate him anymore? Even you have to agree with me when I say that I wasn't raised with love and though never learned to love. Living at the Dursleys' was hell and I can just thank any good spirit out there that I didn't become a new Voldemort."  
  
Ron flinched as he mentioned the name, but Harry ignored him. He thought about his own words. When he thought back at his live, he really had to be thankful. It would have been so easy to spread the hate he felt for the Dursleys' to all Muggles in the world and to become the new Dark Lord with the wish to kill all those people. So he had to ask himself what went right in his life, or more precisely, what went wrong in Tom Riddles early years.   
  
What was the real cause that made Tom Riddle the feared, Muggle hating Dark Lord Voldemort?  
  
"So, you really love him?" Ron asked with a hesitant voice, breaking Harry away from his thoughts.  
  
Harry leaned back onto his hands. "What do you think?"  
  
Ron shifted his gaze from Harry to the sleeping Draco, biting his lower lip. Harry could see the uneasiness in his friend and he nearly felt pity. But just nearly. It was now Ron's turn to understand and accept this new situation or he would loose his friendship. And surely this wasn't easy for the Redhead, he being the one who had hated the blond Slytherin the most from their trio since first year.  
  
"I think……I think you lo……like him," Ron stammered, nervous raking one hand through his hair. "But it is hard to believe that Malfoy could feel such a thing as love. You have to admit that he was cruel to us in the past years; saying Mudblood to 'Mione and always trying to fight with you."  
  
He sighed and his shoulders sacked down. "Can you really tell me that he isn't the boy any more who thinks purebloods are better than everyone else?"  
  
Harry looked at the said Slytherin. Slowly he trailed a finger down one smooth cheek.  
  
"No, I can't tell you. But I think he will be more quiet around Hermione and you, and if just to stay on my good side."  
  
With a deep sigh Ron fell onto the chair beside the bed, the one in which Draco's parents had slept in. Shortly Harry wondered where they had gone.  
  
"I can't believe this." Ron moaned, covering his face with his hands. "I have the feeling somehow I missed something. Before the holidays all was fine--well except the fact that You-know-who came back--and when I came back to live an equal normal year, I find this."  
  
He waved at Harry, sitting on the bed beside a peaceful sleeping Draco Malfoy.  
  
"The same question I asked myself a lot in the past few weeks." Harry murmured and carefully climbed down from the bed.  
  
Then he let his gaze drift to the window behind the bed, looking outside. The sun was standing low on the horizon, barely to see behind the Forbidden Forest.  
  
"Its past six or so." Ron answered the unasked question. With a muffled groan he stood up and went to stand beside the black haired boy. "I couldn't sleep and so I decided to come and visit you."  
  
Red spots appeared on his cheeks as Harry turned to look at him with his green eyes.   
  
"Listen, Harry." It burst out of the large Redhead before Harry could even open his mouth. "You know I never liked Malfoy, but I think I can bury my hate for him--if he behaves that is and not insults my family--but I can do it. I don't want to loose your friendship."  
  
Speechless Harry stared up at his friend. His first and best friend since first year. For a few moments he just stood there and tried to convince himself that this wasn't a dream, that Ron really had said those words to him.  
  
"You really mean it?" He asked, hating his weak voice and fighting the tears that threatened to fall from his burning eyes.  
  
Embarrassed Ron looked everywhere but at his friend, rubbing the back of his head.   
  
"Of course I do. You're my best friend and I will not let Malfoy come between us."  
  
Swallowing, Harry furiously rubbed the wetness away from his eyes, before he flashed Ron a bright grin--and jumped on him to give him a tight hug.  
  
"Thanks, Ron."  
  
Ron stood stiff as a stick with Harry's arms around him, his hands fluttering uneasily at his sides. Harry sensed his friends uneasiness and wanted to step away; however before he could even move, Ron's arms slung themselves around his waist as equal tightly as his own.  
  
"It is okay, mate. I will be your friend as long as you want me and beyond."  
  
Harry chuckled and shortly let himself relax into the embrace, even when a part of his brain started to compare this hug with the once Draco and he shared.  
  
It was an annoyed sounding voice that broke them apart after a few minutes.  
  
"This is really sweet, but would you mind letting my boyfriend go, Weasel?"  
  
Both boys--one with red hair and one with black hair--jumped back from each other, their eyes shifting to the bed the same time, a surprised look in them.  
  
Glowing silver eyes met their gaze, one eyebrow raised slightly. Then the eyes drifted shortly to Ron's hands still being on Harry's waist, before they rose again to meet wide brown eyes, the glowing intensifying, this time with a possessive gleam in them.  
  
Ron swallowed and hurriedly hid his hands behind his back.  
  
Harry just rolled his eyes and stepped beside the bed.  
  
"Morning, Draco." He smiled and brushed his lips shortly over Draco's cheek.   
  
Blushing Ron looked away from the sight of his best friend kissing his rival……his former rival.  
  
A happy smile chased away the scowl on Draco's face as he returned Harry's chaste kiss, taking one of his hand in his own to keep him at his side. And away from the Weasley. He really hadn't liked the sight of his Harry in Ron Weasley's arms when he had woken up.  
  
"And, has he finally accepted it?" He asked dryly without looking at the Redhead.   
  
"Yes. He came here to tell me he is sorry." Harry smiled at his best friend. However, from one moment to the other a shadow darkened his face and his eyes shifted to his feet. "Good to know that one of my old friends is on my side."  
  
Draco scowled and tightened his grip onto Harry's hand.  
  
"There are more people which are on your side." Ron said enthusiastically, before the blond could open his mouth. He stepped to Harry and shook him slightly by his shoulders. "You'll see. Not all will believe in the lies of this damn article. Especially our Dorm mates. And from all the other we will protect you."  
  
Draco swallowed a growl, fighting the urge to slap the hands away from Harry that kept touching him. He couldn't insult Harry's friends anymore when he wanted to be with the brunette.  
  
"So, one of your friends has returned to you." He kept his voice steady, one allowing his annoyance for the Weasley to be heard. "And Granger?"  
  
Ron's face dropped. Slowly he backed away from Harry.  
  
"Hermione doesn't believe that your feelings are real, Harry. She thinks that Malfoy here has given you a potion or put you under a spell. And I'm not sure that anything could convince her otherwise."  
  
Harry swallowed and held more firmly onto Draco's hand. Hermione didn't believe him? How could that be? It had always been Ron who had hated the Blond the most and not Hermione.  
  
An uncomfortable silence settled between the three that none of them knew how to break. The opening of the door saved them from their predicament.  
  
With wide grins on their faces no other then the Weasley twins burst into the Hospital wing, Fred carrying a small package.  
  
"Harry!" George yelled out, running toward the stunned boy and ignoring his younger brother and the Slytherin. Fred followed him, and both successfully cornered Harry beside the bed.  
  
"Harry, we've been looking all over for you. We have……"  
  
"……something for you. Here." And without another word Fred gave Harry the little package he was carrying.  
  
Harry eyed the thing in his hands suspiciously. It was not big, comfortable fitting into palm of one hand. It was light, too, and wrapped in a red cloth that felt very soft on his skin.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Two similar grins appeared on the twins faces, a grin Harry often had seen on the two brothers. Mostly when they told him about a prank of them.  
  
Unconsciously he held the package further away from him.  
  
"It's our new invention."  
  
"Yeah, and we already sold some of them. I think……"  
  
"……it is the best invention we ever made. And because it is thanks to you……"  
  
"……we want to present you with one of our precious."  
  
Harry gaze shifted between the two brothers back and forth. Then back to the thing in his hand.  
  
"Come on. Open it." Ron urged, a curious gleam in his eyes.   
  
Sighing Harry fought against the urge to shake his headand hoping that whatever it was wouldn't explode into his face, he unwrapped the red cloth.  
  
Silence followed when everybody stared at the thing sitting on Harry's hand.  
  
Okay, okay, sorry for this cliffy, but it is a soft one. You will see what the twins gave Harry in the next chapter. Annd more Draco/Harry fluff. I wanted to add it in this chapter, but……I didn't manage and I didn't want to let you wait any longer. And a new teacher. Hope to see ya. 


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